Economic Calendar 15 March - 19 March

DATE	TIME	CRNCY	EVENT	ACTUAL	FORECAST	PREVIOUS
Tue	10:00	EUR	EUR Euro-Zone Consumer Price Index (YoY) (FEB)	44.5	0.90%	0.90%
16-Mar
	10:00	EUR	EUR Euro-Zone Consumer Price Index - Core (YoY) (FEB)	-51.9		0.90%
	11:00	EUR	EUR Euro-Zone Consumer Price Index (MoM) (FEB)	0.25%	0.30%	-0.80%
	18:15	USD	USD Federal Open Market Committee Interest Rate Decision	0.1%	0.25%	0.25%
Wed		JPY	JPY Bank of Japan Interest Rate Decision			0.10%
17-Mar
	9:30	GBP	GBP Bank of England Meeting Minutes	-32.3%
	9:30	GBP	GBP Jobless Claims Change (FEB)		6.0K	23.5K
	9:30	GBP	GBP Claimant Count Rate (FEB)		5.00%	5.00%
	9:30	GBP	GBP ILO Unemployment Rate (3M) (JAN)		7.90%	7.80%
Thu	12:30	USD	USD Consumer Price Index (MoM) (FEB)		0.10%	0.20%
18-Mar
	12:30	USD	USD Consumer Price Index (YoY) (FEB)		2.30%	2.60%
	12:30	USD	USD Consumer Price Index Core Index s.a. (FEB)			220.463
	12:30	USD	USD Consumer Price Index n.s.a. (FEB)			216.687
Fri	12:30	CAD	CAD Consumer Price Index (MoM) (FEB)		0.30%	0.30%
19-Mar
	12:30	CAD	CAD Consumer Price Index (YoY) (FEB)		1.40%	1.90%
	12:30	CAD	CAD Bank Canada Consumer Price Index Core (MoM) (FEB)		0.30%	0.10%
	12:30	CAD	CAD Bank Canada Consumer Price Index Core (YoY) (FEB)		1.60%	2.00%

Interest Rate Decisions

Interest rates decisions news flashes provide guidelines for the overnight lending rate which are bound to have an effect on businesses and consumers alike. An upward surge in the cost of living - inflation and a runaway economy is slowed by hiking the interest rates. Lowering interest rates rejuvenates an economy from the doldrums by enabling consumers to get easy credit thus increasing consumption. Currencies strengthen when interest rates move north and weaken when the rates move southwards.

 

 Change in Employment

Change in employment index compares the employment to the unemployment rates in a certain economy. The index which is calculated by economist is used to predict future spending and consumption pertains which are likely to occur due to change of one of the parameters. An economy can either grow or contract depending on which of the two parameters changes.

 

Consumer Price Index (CPI)

CPI is one of the most reliable parameters used to gauge the extent of inflation on the economy. Every household spends money on some basic commodities and utilities, these items are collectively referred to as “the consumer basket”. By monitoring the changes in price of the consumer basket, economists are able to predict the interest trends. This is largely due to the fact that central bank will more often than not act to tame inflation by raising interest rates and vice versa. The adjustments of interest rates to keep consumer basket within the majorities reach will affect the underlying currency either strengthening or weakening it.

 

Retail Sales

Retails sales are good pointers of the state of the economy. When the economy is strong and growing, retails sales escalate and consumer are more willing to spend money on luxury goods. Conversely, a shrinking economy is characterized by a reduction in retail sales and cautious spending by consumers.

 

Trade Balance

This is simply the difference between total exports and total exports between two or more trading nations. Multinational trade involves the export and import of goods and services between nations. When one country exports more than it imports the net effect is a trade surplus. The reverse of this is known as trade deficit. Great emphasis is placed on Trade Balance Report as it shows the movement of goods and services between nations. Countries with trade surplus usually have stronger economies as there have more money in than what there are spending.

 

Gross Domestic Product – GDP

GDP is derived at by measuring the consumers’ ability to consume / afford goods and services produced within their economy. A strong GDP is a sign of a robust economy which should be checked for inflation - rising interest rates - while a weak GDP could be interpreted to indicate a recession meaning interest rates are likely to head south.

 

ISM Manufacturing Survey

This survey gauges the mood and sentiments of companies’ top brass, decision and policy makers towards inflation. The centerpiece of this survey is their take on business outlook - new business, production capacities, backlogs, inventory levels and manpower issues. A 50 points scale is used to interpret the findings with value 50 indicating expansion, while values below 50 are a sign of recession