Japense GDP For Q4 Does Not Meet Forecasts

 | Feb 17, 2014 06:50AM ET

On Friday, the U.S. dollar index decreased due to the weak economic data in the U.S., and strong data out of the EU and China. US industrial production in January appeared highest in the last 4.5 years. This week, the significant macroeconomic information from the United States starts coming Wednesday, February 19.

On Friday, the euro area GDP for the fourth quarter increased by 0.5 % year on year. This is more than it was expected. Now market participants expect higher growth for this year. This modestly reduced the likelihood of further rate cuts at the next ECB meeting on March 6. Note that the EU's GDP for 2013 will be released in the second reading on March 5th. As it was expected, at the same time the ECB will announce its economic growth forecast for the current year. Recall that in the opinion of the European Commission, the Eurozone GDP will grow by 1.1% in 2014. This week's important economic data from the EU will be released on Tuesday and Thursday
.