The economic calendar picks up on Tuesday after a slow start to the week with US figures set to drive headlines in North American trade.
The European data session begins at 06:45 GMT with a report on French industrial output. February industrial output is projected to rise 1.5% after sinking 2% the previous month.
Italy will report a similar data set later in the session. The Italian figures are projected to show industrial output growth of 4.8% for February.
Monetary policy is also on the agenda Tuesday. US Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) member Robert Kaplan will deliver a speech at 08:30 GMT. One hour later, the Bank of England’s Andrew Haldane will deliver remarks.
Shifting gears to North America, the Canadian government will report on housing at 12:15 GMT. Ground-breaking for Canadian homes is projected to fall to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 219,000 in March, compared with 229,700 in February.
The Canadian government will also report on February building permits at 12:30 GMT. Permits likely rose 1.3% for February, based on the latest consensus forecasts.
At 12:30 GMT, the US Department of Labor will report on producer inflation. The March data set is projected to show growth of 2.9% annually, compared with 2.8% for February.
Core producer inflation, which strips away food and energy costs, is forecast to grow 2.6% annually.
The Commerce Department will report on wholesale inventories at 14:00 GMT. Inventories, which are used to calculate gross domestic product (GDP), are forecast to grow 0.9% month-on-month in February.
Energy traders will also be keeping a close eye on weekly crude inventory figures courtesy of the American Petroleum Institute (API) at 20:30 GMT. The official inventory results will be presented the following morning by the US Energy Information Administration (EIA).
Europe’s common currency rode a tailwind higher on Monday, with the EUR/USD climbing back above the critical 1.2300 level. At the time of writing, EUR/USD was trading at 1.2314. The up-move was largely a result of weakness in the US dollar. Immediate support for the uptrend is located at 1.2260.
The Cable extended its upside on Monday to a high of 1.4156. GBP/USD would later consolidate in the 1.4120 range, where it was trading at the time of writing. The pair faces strong resistance at 1.4200. A break above this level would extend the rally back to the 26 March high of around 1.4240.
The greenback fell sharply against its northern rival at the beginning of the week, with USD/CAD plunging 120 pips to break below 1.2700 for the first time since February. The pair will likely be driven by economic data from both sides of the border on Tuesday.
