- European indices start low
- Speeches by ECB and Fed members
- March German IFO data, January Canadian retail sales
Europe's main indexes opened the day lower after mixed trading in Asia-Pacific time today. Energy products and precious metals fell today, weighed down by the strong US dollar. The cryptocurrency has made gains and recouped some of its recent losses, with Bitcoin rallying above the $66,000 mark. The US dollar and Japanese yen are the best-performing major currencies, while the Australian dollar and New Zealand dollar are the furthest behind.
Today's economic calendar is very light. The key release scheduled for the European morning is the German IFO index for March, but the only macro release of note scheduled for the afternoon is Canadian retail sales. However, there are a number of speeches scheduled for today by central bank governors from the Fed and ECB, which could help cushion the volatility of the euro and US dollar. Today's speakers include Fed Chairman Jerome Powell, but since he will only give opening remarks at the Fed Listens event, he may not touch on monetary policy topics in much depth or at all.
9am GMT – Germany, March IFO index. Expected value: 86.0. Last time: 85.5
12:30pm GMT – Canada, January retail sales.
- Heading. Forecast: -0.4% m/m.Previous: +0.9% m/m
- Former car. Forecast: -0.5% m/m.Previous: +0.6% m/m
Central bank governor's speech
- 9am (GMT) – ECB Nagel
- 10am (GMT) – ECB Holtzmann
- 11am (GMT) – ECB Centeno
- 1pm (GMT) – ECB Nagel
- 1:00 p.m. (GMT) – Fed Chairman Powell
- 4:15pm GMT – Bar Fed
- 5:00pm GMT – ECB Lane
- 5:30pm (GMT) – ECB Centeno
- 8:00 PM (GMT) – FRB Bostic