Economic Events Outlook, Feb 20 – All Eyes on FOMC Meeting Minutes

Posted Wednesday, February 20, 2019 by
Arslan Butt • 2 min read

Good morning, fellas.

The Greenback weakened against most major rivals, while the Yen declined as upbeat Wall Street earnings and positive sentiments on the US-China trade deal increased the demand for gold. Same goes for crude oil – crude oil surged as investors believed that the world’s second-biggest economy may increase crude oil demand.

On Tuesday, the UK labor market report came out worse than expected. Average hourly earnings were 3.4%, missing economists’ forecast of 3.5%. While Claimant Count Change rose by 14.2K vs. 12.3K forecast.

Today, the investor focus shifts to the European Consumer Confidence and FOMC meeting minutes from the United States. Looks like another interesting day to capture green pips. Here’s what to expect from the market today.

Watchlist – Key Economic Events Today

EUR – German PPI m/m
At 7:00 (GMT), the Destatis is due to release German PPI data with a negative forecast of -0.2%. Although it’s a negative figure, it’s slightly better than January -0.4%.

EUR – Consumer Confidence
Eurostat will be releasing data on consumer confidence at 15:00 (GMT). In case it’s new to you, consumer confidence is a survey of about 2,300 consumers in Eurozone countries which asks respondents to rate the relative level of past and future economic conditions, including personal financial situation, employment, inflation, and climate for major purchases.

Impact: Above 0 indicates optimism, below indicates pessimism.

As per economists’ forecast, consumers are still pessimistic about Eurozone’s economy and that’s certainly unsurprising, considering the macroeconomic events of the Eurozone. The single currency Euro may have a muted impact on release.

USD – FOMC Meeting Minutes

The dollar is bearish over the fact that the Federal Reserve exhibited a dovish tone for upcoming interest rates in 2019. The FED chose to leave interest rates steady in late January and also made a notable policy shift to “patience” with interest rate hikes, instead of signaling a hawkish sentiment.

Today at 19:00 (GMT), the meeting minutes from the event will shed light on some major topics, such as how FOMC members interpret the trade war and the consequences of a trade war on the US economy. Chair Jerome Powell and other FOMC members are concerned about the economic situation in the US and abroad. Thus, they may exhibit a dovish tone to keep the dollar weaker against peer currencies.

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