This week, investors are likely to dig into the FOMC and ECB meeting minutes for more hints and clarity with regards to the policy plans of these two Banks. The UK jobs data, as well as the Canadian CPIs have also the potential to affect expectations on future policy moves by the BoE and BoC.
Monday is holiday in China, Canada, the US. Chinese markets will be closed until Wednesday in celebration of the Lunar New Year. In Canada, it is Family Day, while in the US, it is Washington’s Birthday.
The only indicator worth mentioning Eurozone’s current account balance. Expectations are for the bloc’s surplus to have decreased somewhat.
On Tuesday, during the early Asian morning, the RBA releases the minutes of its latest monetary policy decision. That meeting was proven a non-event as the Bank adopted a neutral tone, with very few changes in its language compared to the previous gathering. As for the Aussie, the Bank did not appear worried, repeating that the exchange rate remains within the range it has been trading over the past two years. On top of that, a couple of days after the meeting, the Bank published its quarterly Statement on Monetary Policy, where the Bank left its economic projections largely unchanged compared to November. As such, we believe that there is little room for new information, or surprises, in the minutes, and thus Aussie traders are unlikely to react much on the release.
Read the full financial markets weekly outlook on JFD Research.