Forex Daily Outlook, 17th June 2009

American CPI, Swiss Retail Sales and British employment figures are the highlights of today. In addition, Ben Bernanke will speak, and there are lots more indicators. Let’s see what’s expecting us on this very busy day.

Australia starts the day with the MI Leading Index. Later, Housing Starts are expected to fall by 3.1%.

In Japan, the BOJ Monthly Report will add little information after the BOJ Press Conference yesterday.

In Switzerland, the SECO Economic Forecasts will provide a preview for the SNB Policy Assessment tomorrow. The more important figure is Retail Sales which are expected to rise by 0.5% after surprising and rising by 1.2% last time.

Later in Switzerland, ZEW Economic Expectations will be released. They don’t have a strong impact like in Germany, but they’re still meaningful.

For more on USD/CHF, check out the Swiss Franc Outlook.

British influx of indicators

In Britain, the Claimant Count Change is the first and most prominent employment indicator. Jobless claims are predicted to rise to 61.8K. A surprise to either direction will move the Pound. On the other hand, British Unemployment Rate is a late figure. It’s predicted to rise from 7.1% to 7.3%.

At the same time, MPC Meeting Minutes are released and will explain the BoE’s decision to continue the Quantitative Easing Plan at the current volume - 125 billion Pounds.

Also in Britian, Average Earnings Index are predicted to rise by 0.2% after falling last time. All the British figures are published at 8:30 GMT.

In the evening, BoE Governor Mervyn King will speak.

For more on the Pound’s week, check out the British Pound Outlook.

Canadian Leading Index is predicted to fall by 0.6%. This figure consists of many indicators, and it isn’t expected ot be good. Also in Canada, Wholesale Sales are expected to fall by 0.7%.

More about the USD/CAD can be found at the Canadian Dollar Outlook.

American Inflation is the limelight today. CPI is expected to rise by 0.3% and Core CPI by 0.1%. Although PPI figures were lower than expected, I still believe that prices have gone up, and that an interest rate hike is not so far.

We might get some answers about oil prices by the Crude Oil Inventories, which are predicted to fall by 2 million barrels. Regarding interest rates, Ben Bernanke may hint something on his speech in Washington, starting at 13:00 GMT.