The Top Economic Events of This Week

German Flash Manufacturing PMI – (Monday, February 21)

On Monday, February 21st, at 08:30 GMT, the Markit Manufacturing PMI for Germany will be released. Markit Economics' Manufacturing Purchasing Managers Index (PMI) measures business conditions in the manufacturing sector. The manufacturing PMI is an important indicator of business conditions and the general economic condition in Germany because the manufacturing sector accounts for a considerable portion of the total GDP. Typically, a number above 50 indicates that the EUR is bullish, whilst a result below 50 indicates that the EUR is bearish. The next German Markit Manufacturing PMI.

Watch out for EUR/USD.

OPEC-JMMC Meetings – (Wednesday, March 2)

OPEC-JMMC meetings are attended by representatives from 13 OPEC members and 11 other oil-rich countries. They discuss several energy market matters, including, most importantly, how much oil they will produce. The meetings are closed to the press, but officials talk with reporters regularly during the day, and following the sessions, a formal statement summarising policy developments and meeting objectives is released.

On March 2, Opec+ ministers will meet to finalize April supply and producer targets, following their Joint Technical Committee (JTC) and Joint Ministerial Monitoring Committee (JMMC) meetings, which review market fundamentals and member performance respectively the day before. Ministers will consider fresh international pressure to release additional output into the market, with global benchmark crude prices above or around $100 per barrel following Russia's invasion of Ukraine this week.

Watch out for Crude and Brent Oil!

Bank of Canada Rate Statement – (Wednesday, March 2)

The Bank of Canada maintained its overnight rate target of 0.25 percent in its first meeting of 2022, in line with forecasts, but stated that it had removed its exceptional forward guidance to keep its policy rate at the effective lower bound, indicating that the overall economic slack has been absorbed, paving the way for the first-rate hike since 2018.

The central bank will also maintain roughly constant its Government of Canada bonds holdings on its balance sheet until it begins to raise the policy interest rate. In terms of prices, inflation is expected to be close to 5% in the first half of 2022 before falling to around 3% by the end of the year. The Bank of Canada forecasts that the Canadian economy will grow by 4% in 2022 and 3.5% in 2023.

Watch out for the USD/CAD.

Fed Chair Powell Testifies - (Thursday, March 3)

Testifying before Congress, Jerome Powell, the chairman of the Federal Reserve, gives a broad overview of the economy and monetary policy. The testimony consists typically of two parts: first, he reads a prepared statement (a text version is made accessible on the Federal Reserve's website at the outset), and then the committee holds a question and answers session. Because the questions aren't known ahead of time, they can cause some unplanned events, which can cause a lot of market volatility.

As president of the central bank, which governs short-term interest rates, he has more power over the country's currency value than anybody else. Traders pay close attention to his public appearances because they often give small clues about how the Federal Reserve will act in the future.

Watch out for EUR/USD and other dollar-related currency pairs for price action.

United States Nonfarm Payrolls - (Friday, February 4)

On Friday, March 4th, at 13:30 GMT, the US nonfarm payrolls will be published. The US economy surprisingly added 467K payrolls in January 2022, much-exceeding market expectations of 150K.

The January figures were a big surprise because the omicron coronavirus variant kept many Americans out of work amid illness or family care during the month, especially after the ADP report showed private companies cut 301K jobs, and the White House warned the data could be shaky because the peak of omicron cases coincided with when payroll data was collected. The statistic will be heavily scrutinized in the coming months, which will almost certainly cause FX market volatility.

A high USD rating is generally regarded as positive (or bullish), whereas a low reading is regarded as unfavourable.

Watch out for EUR/USD and other dollar-related currency pairs for price action.

That's it for this week, happy trading! 📊

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