Consumer prices and jobless claims were in the centre of market's attention on Thursday. Last months' lessons taught us one thing– none of the world's central banks is ready to accept excessively low inflation.
During the speech in Berlin German Bundesbank President Jens Weidmann sang the praises of ECB accommodative policy, saying most of the Eurozone members are still struggling with effects of the longest-ever financial crisis.
Almost a month ago the UBS consumption indicator showed stronger-than-expected reading, supporting more positive outlook from the government.
Japan's economy is on the mend. This fact can boost investors' appetite for the Yen; however, practically all experts are betting at a further decline of Japanese currency this year, taking into account April's tax hike, which can derail economic recovery.
From the perspective of fundamental analysis the Pound is poised to appreciate further against other major currencies given stronger-than-expected growth metrics.
It seems that the U.S. Dollar's losses following Friday's job report are slowly being retraced.
Following a positive day for the single currency on Tuesday, on Wednesday the EUR/USD currency pair has almost reached an important support level at 1.36, helped by some hawkish comments from Fed members and disappointing data from Europe.
The number of new motor vehicle sales in Australia rose a seasonally adjusted 1.7% in December to 97,014, according to the official data of the Australian Bureau of Statistics.
Is a weaker Yen a key to economic stability? Definitely, one of the key pillars of Shinzo Abe's policy positively contributed to economic growth last year; however, according to the latest data current account posted its largest deficit in November on rocketing imports.
Finally, inflation in the U.K. has reached the desired level of 2%, as the Consumer Price Index inched back to 2% in December from 2.1% a month earlier for a first time since November 2009.
Freedom – is the cornerstone of the U.S. economy. However, during the last several years this postulate began losing its importance.
Tuesday, January 14, was a good day to buy the single currency, as EUR/USD pair hit an intraday high of 1.3696 on comments from one of ECB members, Ewald Nowotny, who pointed out the Eurozone can post stronger-than-expected growth this year.
The Australian Dollar was trading around a five-week high at 0.9063 against its U.S. counterpart on Monday, as the greenback fell on the back of disastrous data from the U.S. labour market, that reflected economy's inability to create jobs in December, while participation rate stood at the lowest level since 1978.
Business confidence in New Zealand surged to the highest level since 1994 as the economic recovery expanded across regions, while house prices rose the most in six years, reinforcing the view the Reserve Bank of New Zealand will need to hike interest rates in the foreseeable future.
British economy is on the mend and rumours about sooner-than-expected rate hike from the Bank of England are heating up with almost each portion of fundamental data.
During the December FOMC meeting the Fed has shed some light on their future moves, providing some relief for market participants who were making their bets on when and how the central bank will start tapering its QE during the last six months or so.
While French First Lady awaits a clarification of her status from Francois Hollande, who was alleged in love affair with an actress, market participants are focusing on this week's Hollande's speech where he can announce some changes in his political and economic spots.
Back to September 2011 the Swiss National Bank decided to impose a cap on the Swiss Franc against the Euro in order to limit currency's appreciation as well as avoid deflation and to assure a sustainable growth in the Alpine economy.
The last week was not so good for the Canadian economy, as all but one report surprised markets to the downside.
The Sterling lost ground versus the U.S. Dollar for the first time in three days following disappointing fundamental data that raised concerns about the sustainability of the U.K. economic recovery.
In December the Federal Reserve decided to start tapering its monthly asset purchases, citing strong labour market and overall economic improvement.
The Eurozone economy is strengthening and fears of another recession have eased after the latest positive data.
As always, the first week of a month is usually more interesting for traders than its second part, as it includes central banks' meeting all over the world, as well as data from key sectors of the economy, and can shed some light on future moves of policymakers.
Australian central bank decided to stay in the "wait-and-see" mode during its December policy meeting, expressing their readiness to act in case economy struggles to grow.