EUR – Inflation Friday
The euro fell yesterday as the Governor of the Bank of France, Francois Villeroy de Galhau, highlighted his concern that EU reform appears to be stuck. The French central bank is an advocate of further EU integration and, at present, it appears to be far from what they deem to be ideal.
Yesterday’s French inflation numbers came in as expected, matching the year on year number of 1.3%. The euro was fairly muted as a result.
Today, we have the release of Eurozone inflation, a significant factor in whether the ECB should change their interest rate stance. Mario Draghi, President of the ECB, stated yesterday that higher inflation is needed to end stimulus. Any uptick in this number could see a bullish reaction from the euro.
USD – Production and Construction
Yesterday’s US jobless claims numbers came in better than expected, giving the dollar some strength and boosting confidence ahead of the Federal Reserve meeting next week. The dollar improved modestly during the day.
US economic data today starts with building permits, giving us the number of new construction projects in the US, which is expected to drop month of month. We then see the release of industrial production numbers, showing the volume of production of US industries such as manufacturing and factories. This number is expected to improve from -0.1% to 0.3%.
GBP – More on the Irish Border
In Brexit news, we had the release of a report by MP’s suggesting the only way to avoid a hard border in Ireland after Brexit is to stay aligned with EU rules. The report by The Northern Ireland Affairs Committee suggests there is no technological solution, only one that implements physical infrastructure.