Welcome to the weekly outlook starting this Monday, Jan. 30. We’ll be looking at the week’s key economic events on the financial calendar covering Monday to Thursday. Be sure to catch up with our Friday morning report that looks back at how the events played out and with a look at Friday’s events. This week is a busy one for the global markets as key central bank announcements are due from Japan, Canada, Eurozone and the UK. And as per schedule, the first Friday of the month, sees the influential NFP report.
Event: Japan Interest Rate Decision
Date: Tuesday 31 January 2017 at 02:00 GMT
Markets affected: EUR/JPY, JPY/USD
Trending hashtags: #yen, #japaninterestrate
The Bank of Japan’s interest rate decision is not expected to see many changes this month. It is currently set at –0.1% and analysts are not forecasting any change to that. At last December’s meeting the BOJ said it would continue its asset purchase programme of ¥6 trillion a year. Last October saw consumer prices rise for the first time in nine months though core inflation took a dip along with exports.
Event: EU Gross Domestic Product (preliminary data)
Date: Tuesday 31 January 2016 at 10:00 GMT
Markets affected: EUR/GBP, GBP/USD
Trending hashtags: #eu , #eugdp
It was a volatile year for the Eurozone with the migrant crisis, Brexit, rise in populist movements across the continent and the US election of Donald Trump. Moderate economic recovery continues in 2016 with Q2 and Q3 showing 0.3% growth and Q1 showing 0.5% expansion. Improvements in employment, low inflation and loose monetary policy have all contributed to mild growth. Analysts are expecting preliminary data to follow suit with modest gains of 0.5% for the quarter and 1.7% year-on-year change.
Event: Canadian GDP data
Date: Tuesday 31 January 2017 at 13:30 GMT
Markets affected: CAD/USD
Trending hashtags: #cad, #gdp
The Canadian economy contracted by 0.3% last October due to production decreases and sluggish business sentiment. The Governor of the Bank of Canada, Stephen Poloz, had been hoping on non-energy exports to pick up the pace since the crash of commodities in 2014, but Manufacturing saw a 2% fall, the biggest decline for 3 years. Services expanded 0.1% in October, as did Retail at 0.7% and wholesale trade at 0.6%. The previous month’s reading came in at a disappointing -0.3%.
