BoE Meeting Ahead: Expected To Signal Rate Hike Soon

 | Feb 07, 2019 02:22AM ET

The U.S. dollar posted gains on Wednesday. Economic data on the day showed that German factory orders fell 1.6% on the month missing estimates of a 0.3% decline. Revisions to the previous month's report showed an upward revision of a 0.2% decline from 1.0% decline previously reported.

Canada's building permits rose 6.0% on the month beating estimates of a 0.9% decline and extended gains from a revised 2.1% increase from the month before. The Ivey PMI fell to 54.7 from 59.7 previously missing estimates by a substantial margin.

In the U.S., the trade balance figures showed that the trade deficit narrowed in December to 49.3 billion. However, this was below estimates.

Mixed Data

The overnight trading session saw the New Zealand quarterly employment report coming out. Data showed that the labor market reversed most of the gains made from the third quarter of 2018.

New Zealand's unemployment rate rose to 4.3% in the fourth quarter following a revised unemployment rate of 4.0% in the previous quarter. The quarterly employment change rose just 0.1%.

Later in the night, Fed Chair, Jerome Powell was speaking. In his speech, Powell said that the U.S. economy was now in a good place. Powell, however, did not make any direct references to monetary policy.

The European session starts off with the release of the German industrial production figures. Forecasts show that industrial production increased 0.8%, reversing some of the declines in activity from the month before.

The ECB will be releasing its economic bulletin. Investors will be looking into the assessment of the central bank on the Eurozone's economy and inflation forecasts.

The Bank of England will be holding its monetary policy meeting today. No changes are expected to the interest rates, but the Bank of England is likely to take a hawkish stance signaling a rate hike soon. The NY trading session is relatively quiet today.

EUR/USD Intraday Analysis