What you need to know before the open – 12/02
Janet Yellen’s dovish comments yesterday left markets upbeat.
Today, European markets await the Bank of England’s inflation report.
ETX Capital #MorningCall FTSE +16, DAX +40, CAC +13, IBEX +52, SP +1, DOW -8
— ETX Capital (@ETXCapital) February 12, 2014
The crucial question is whether governor Mark Carney quietly does away with the unemployment threshold, revises it, or steers the market towards average wage growth.
Over in Asia, the Nikkei reached a one-and-a-half week high after the Fed chair’s speech, and strong Chinese trade data gave investors confidence.
The Chinese trade balance rose to $31.86bn in January, beating expectations of a decrease from December’s $25.6bn. Imports and exports both rose by over ten per cent in January, well ahead of modest forecasts.
Key events:
- France current account for December at 7.45am.
- Switzerland consumer price index for January at 8.25am. Expected at -0.3 per cent from -0.2 per cent.
- EU industrial production for December at 10.00am. Expected at 1.8 per cent from 3.0 per cent year-on-year.
- UK CB leading economic index for December at 10.00am.
- UK Bank of England quarterly inflation report at 10.30am.
- UK Bank of England Carney speech at 10.30am.
- Spain consumer price index for January at 11.00am.
- US MBA mortgage applications (7 February) at 12.00pm.
- EU European Central Bank Draghi’s speech at 3.30pm.
- US monthly budget statement for January at 7.00pm. Expected at $-27.5bn from $53.2bn.