The world's third largest economy failed to regain momentum during the last three months of 2013, official data showed Monday, as spending by companies and households deteriorated over the period.
This week investors should definitely pay their attention to the Pound as every single day of the week a set of vital data or comments that can shed light of central bank's future moves will be available to public.
The number of economists projecting the Federal Reserve will start increasing interest rates later this year is constantly rising.
The single currency soared to its highest level in three weeks against the U.S. Dollar ahead of the Eurogroup meeting, while the fact the U.S. markets will remain closed on Monday means that the most traded currency pair will be driven by fundamental news from Europe.
The Australian Dollar recovered on Friday, after it was pushed lower by disappointing domestic jobs data.
This week only few of the Bank of Japan watchers are expecting the central bank to tweak its monetary policy ahead of the looming April's tax hike that is likely to become a massive drag on the economy.
The Bank of England's new, adjusted forward guidance has shifted the focus of monetary policy away from one key economic indicator that was difficult to predict, to another which is almost impossible to measure.
The FOMC or the Federal Open Market Committee is comprised of presidents of the several Fed banks in the United States and members of the Fed Board of Governors.
The single currency was just slightly bullish on Friday, with the EUR/USD currency pair moving to 1.3714; however, the pair was not able to move above the strong psychological level of 1.37.
Mark Carney and Janet Yellen were expected to be the main highlights of the last week; however, both of them provided no surprises and sounded not very convincing. While both the U.S. Dollar and Pound were highly volatile last week, traders paid their attention to the kiwi and Japanese Yen, as risk-on sentiment prevailed the markets. This week traders' eyes
The Australian Dollar plummeted against its U.S. counterpart on Thursday, pushed lower by disappointing figures from the Oz labour market, spurring investors to pare bets on the upcoming interest rate hike from the RBA.
While Janet Yellen refrained from making any bold statements during her first speech as the Chairman of the Federal Reserve, she backed the unprecedented stimulus programme from the Bank of Japan, saying it is "natural and logical" to make efforts to end 20 years of deflation and weak growth.
While the Pound soared most in three months amid speculations the Bank of England will fail to keep interest rates low and will start raising borrowing costs sooner-than-expected, the housing market performed the similar rally.
The U.S. Dollar was traded lower on Thursday following disappointing fundamental data from the world's largest economy, with both retail sales and unemployment claims surprising markets to the downside.
According to the ECB governing council member Luc Coene, the central bank will not act soon, as policymakers are waiting for more information on the inflation outlook before making any assessments of the 18-nation economy.
The International Monetary Fund said the monetary policy in Australia should remain accommodative and act as the main tool to manage aggregate demand in the near term, even as a weaker Australian Dollar remains a key factor for achieving a broad-based economic pickup.
Japan's economic growth is projected to accelerate at the end of last year as consumers increased spending ahead of a planned sales tax hike, while analysts believe officials may have to consider to inject fresh stimulus to brighten the economic outlook.
Bank of England Governor Mark Carney underlined his pledge to maintain interest rates unchanged at a record low in an overhaul of forward guidance to fight persisting slack in the U.K. economy.
The House of Representatives on Tuesday voted to lift the government's borrowing limit until March 2015, without any conditions.
According to the Economy Ministry, German economic growth will pick up steam this year as domestic demand strengthens; however, foreign trade will weigh on export-oriented economy for a second consecutive year.
Consumer sentiment in Australia continued to fall as households are concerned about the economic prospects and rising interest rates.
Japan's core machinery orders fell in December the most since 1998, adding to concerns business investment growth could stall in coming months and weigh on a steady recovery in the world's number three economy.
The Confederation of British Industry, the U.K.'s leading business group, revised its growth forecast upwards for the U.K. economy as it is poised to pick up steam from business investment on low borrowing cost, and net trade is set to rise this year.
New Federal Reserve chair Janet Yellen on Tuesday said that she would not make any drastic changes to her predecessor's monetary policy and would stick to tapering stimulus in "measured steps", even amid recent weak employment reports