March 16 – Economic Events Outlook – EUR & USD In The Spotlight

Happy Friday, traders.

Yesterday, no major catalysts lined up on the US economic calendar and the Dollar bulls looked happy to trade the Buck on medium-tier releases. It’s the same case today, we don’t have any major economic events on the docket from any of the economies, however, the medium-tier releases will be worth watching for quick trades.

Top Economic Events to Watch Today

Eurozone – EUR

Final CPI y/y  

It will be nice to trade the European inflation figures at the beginning of the European session. The Eurostat is expected to release the inflation data at 11:00 (GMT). Overall, the data is expected to by grow 1.2%, slightly lower than the 1.3% gain back in February 2018, not surprising at all.

If the Eurostat releases a figure greater than the 1.2% forecast and the 1.3% previous data, the single currency Euro will recover it’s earlier losses today.

US Dollar – USD

Building Permits  

Building permits are an excellent gauge of future construction activity because obtaining a permit is among the first steps in constructing a new building. The data will be monitored at 13:30 (GMT) and is expected to drop from 1.38M vs. 1.33M.

Capacity Utilization Rate

This data is due at 14:15 (GMT), with a slightly positive forecast of 77.7% vs 77.5% beforehand. It’s a leading indicator of consumer inflation and when producers are nearing full capacity, they respond by raising prices and the higher costs are usually passed on to the consumer, which result in higher inflation. This is what central banks are looking to achieve.

Industrial Production m/m

The Federal Reserve will release the data at 14:15 (GMT) and is expected to be better than the previous one. For your information, the better-than-expected industrial production and capacity utilization also underpin the Crude Oil prices.  

Prelim UoM Consumer Sentiment

At 15:00 (GMT), the University of Michigan will release the consumer confidence, a survey of about 500 consumers that ask respondents to rate the relative level of current and future economic conditions.

For instance, if their local’s are not confident about the economic health of the US, why should investors from other countries invest in the US?

Summing up, the fundamental side is light today. It’s worth trading the technical setups to close the week profitably. Keep following for potential trade ideas in forex and commodities.

Have an awesome weekend.