Your free market guide: 19th to 25th Feb

To help you to earn more with TIQL we're sending you this free guide to the markets and dates to watch this week. Economic news and announcements cause financial markets to move a lot, and may provide some opportunities to trade.

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Here are the main news events to look out for this week:​

GBP: kicks off early but peaks midweek
Traders are keen to know what will happen with the Bank of England’s interest rates. Mark Carney, Bank of England Chairman, offers an exciting chance to kick the week off with some volatility on the pound when he talks about leadership and values in London (Monday 19th 6.45pm GMT).

Wages have been stagnating so Carney will be hoping for good news from the Average Earnings Index (Wednesday 21st 9.30am). Rising below inflation at 2.5% for the last few months, they haven’t helped paint a positive picture of the wider domestic economy.

The mid-week hump peaks with the big red flag, Inflation Report Hearings (2.15pm GMT Wednesday 21st February). Carney and his Monetary Policy Committee testify at the Treasury with comments expected about the currency markets. Lasting a few hours this can almost guarantee turbulence.

Sterling’s last big gasp of the week is the quarterly Second Estimate GDP (Thursday at 9.30am GMT). Rising more than expected to 0.5% analysts expect that to stabilise with no change forecast.

USD: Yellen’s last stand at the FOMC
Yellen is out. Powell is in. It's regime change time. But is that boat getting rocked one last time by the ex-most powerful woman in the US economy?

Get ready to hear her final remarks in the FOMC Meeting Minutes for January (Wednesday 21st February 7.00pm GMT). We don’t expect her to hold back. Everyone and his donkey want to know where the Fed’s interest rate is going next and when. The Federal Open Market Committee Meeting Minutes give all the juicy details and we want them hot off the press.

Incoming Chair, Jerome Powell, has stressed continuity. He caused a few chuckles with remarks that the Fed works for the “good of all Americans” recently. Some applaud his apparently strong free markets stance but the question remains whether organisations and markets will actually be allowed to fail should things go wrong. Check out Powell’s upcoming speeches to see where the future lies.

CAD & NZD: retail sales
New Zealand’s Retail Sales (Thursday 22nd 9.45pm GMT) are forecast to uptick with 1.4% growth. Core Retail Sales (Thursday 22nd 9.45pm GMT) are also expected to be stronger at 0.7% growth.

If pundits are correct, this makes the domestic economy look better than some would have hoped. Though every trader knows forecasts can be wrong. Last week’s US Core Retail Sales stagnated at 0.0% rather than the healthier 0.5% growth expected while there was a wince-inducing contraction of -0.2% in the wider Retail Sales. Now there’s an economy that’s suddenly not looking as bright as expected.

Canada’s Retail Sales (Thursday 22nd February 1.30pm GMT) boosted their economy last month by coming in at twice the forecast with 1.6% growth against the 0.8% predicted. They are cautiously optimistic about wider economic growth and this could be a strengthening economy.
Where Canada is concerned, always remember to track Crude Oil Inventories (Thursday 22nd February 4pm GMT) for its impact on the Loonie. Currently back in the positive after months of reductions, are we seeing a new trend in oil production?

EUR: no weekend off
The European Parliamentary Elections are on Sunday 25th. Expect EUR related markets to pay attention and watch out for possible corrections when markets open on Monday if there are any political upsets.

Here are the main news events to look out for this week:
Mon Feb 19
18:45:00 GMT GBP BOE Gov Carney Speaks
Tue Feb 20
00:30:00 GMT AUD Monetary Policy Meeting Minutes
Wed Feb 21
09:30:00 GMT GBP Average Earnings Index 3m/y
14:15:00 GMT GBP Inflation Report Hearings
19:00:00 GMT USD FOMC Meeting Minutes
Thu Feb 22
16:00:00 GMT USD Crude Oil Inventories
09:30:00 GMT GBP Second Estimate GDP q/q
12:30:00 GMT EUR ECB Monetary Policy Meeting Accounts
13:30:00 GMT CAD Core Retail Sales m/m
21:45:00 GMT NZD Retail Sales q/q
Fri Feb 23
13:30:00 GMT CAD CPI m/m
Sun Feb 25
09:15:00 GMT EUR Parliamentary Election

Some Markets to Watch...

USDJPY: The Yen broke through significant support and has been trading in a narrow range within last week's range. The dollar hit a 3-year low against the Yen last week despite surging U.S. Treasury yields and a rebound in global equity markets. The move may have been fueled by inflation concerns in the U.S. as well as worries about the huge U.S. current and budget deficits.

Bitcoin: BTCUSD is trading above the key $10000 round number. Key levels to watch this week are 12000 (completion of equidistant swing into previous supply/demand) and the 10,000 level.

Crude Oil: The chart we looked at last week is still in play. We have a potential ABCD pattern which could complete near the halfway back and previous chart structure at $54.

GBPUSD: The bulls still have the ball on cable. We found buyers at 1.38 last week and all eyes are on the 1.40 level to see if we can push higher. 1.45 could be a good target for the bulls to cover.

Whichever way you think these markets are going to go, you can trade these and other markets from as little as 1 cent with TIQL.