Your Weekly Fundamental View (May 15–19)

Need to Know

This week will have a mix of important news events. From GBP CPI, across the Japanese GDP to Australian jobs report, each piece of data will be important for the movement of their respected currency basket. Let's take a look at the most important news events coming up this week.

Coming Up

The AUD Monetary Policy Meeting Minutes Are Due on Monday, 15 May.

The data represents a detailed record of the RBA Reserve Bank Board's most recent meeting, providing in-depth insights into the economic conditions.

Why should you care? Traders and investors always look for cues for future economic policy and any possible hints of interest rate change. A short term price spike in AUD pairs following the news could also be used to trade the event.

The GBP CPI Will Be Out on Tuesday, 16 May.

This is possibly the UK's most important inflation data, because it's used as the central bank's inflation target.

Why should you care? Consumer prices account for the majority of overall inflation. Measuring inflation is important in currency valuation because rising prices lead the central bank to raise interest rates.

The EUR GDP Growth Rate Is Announced on Tuesday, 16 May.

Among the member states, the biggest economies are Germany, France and Spain, excluding United Kingdom which opted for exiting the Eurozone. On the expenditure side, household consumption is the main component of GDP followed by government expenditure and gross fixed capital formation.

Why should you care? The GDP and its Importance. Gross Domestic Product (GDP) is one of the most widely used measures of an economy's output or production. Better than expected result might cause a sudden spike in EUR crosses.

The NZD GDT Price Index Is Out on Tuesday, 17 May.

GDT measures the change in the average price of dairy products sold at auction.
Why should you care? It's a leading indicator of the nation's trade balance with other countries.

USD Crude Oil Inventories Are Due on Wednesday, 17 May.

A buildup of crude oil inventories usually signals decreasing demand from refiners. On the other hand, a drop would signal that refiners are still producing at elevated levels and the inventory overhang in oil products could continue.

Why should you care? This is primarily a US indicator, but it also affects CAD, due to Canada's huge energy sector.

GBP Claimant Count Change and Unemployment Rate Are Out on Wednesday, 17 May.

Claimant count change represents the change in the number of people claiming unemployment-related benefits during the previous month. Coupled with the unemployment rate and average hourly earnings, these updates are released at the same time on Wednesday.

Why should you care? Traders could try to trade short term price movements following these news.

The AUD Employment Change and Unemployment Rate Will Be Out on Thursday, 18 May.

The labour force is the sum of unemployed people and employed people.

Why should you care? The data might move AUD crosses, so traders should watch for possible volatility following this report.

The JPY GDP Report Is Released on Thursday, 18 May.

Source: Japanese GDP preliminary Q1 historical chart

This is the preliminary report for Q1 2017. Japan's output tends to fluctuate, with occasional quarters of contraction.

Why should you care? The data might cause volatility on JPY crosses immediately following the release.

USD Unemployment Claims Are Released on Thursday, 17 May.

These claims are the earliest national economic data, representing the number of individuals who filed for insurance for the first time during the past week. If the actual result is weaker than the forecast, it could be reflect well on the currency.

Why should you care? The number of unemployed people is an important signal of the overall economic health and could hint at future monetary policy steps.

The CAD CPI Is Out on Friday, 18 May.

The CPI data represents the change in the price of goods and services purchased by consumers.

Why should you care? This may be the most important inflation-related release, due to its earliness and broad scope. This is among the few non-seasonally adjusted numbers and consumer prices which account for the majority of overall inflation.