Foreign exchange market. Asian session: the Australian dollar gained

Economic calendar (GMT0):

Time/ Region/ Event/ Period/ Previous/ Forecast/ Actual

00:30 Australia CPI, q/q Quarter IV 0.5% 0.3% 0.4%

00:30 Australia CPI, y/y Quarter IV 1.5% 1.6% 1.7%

00:30 Australia Trimmed Mean CPI q/q Quarter IV 0.3% 0.5% 0.6%

00:30 Australia Trimmed Mean CPI y/y Quarter IV 2.1% 2.1% 2.1%

07:00 United Kingdom Nationwide house price index January 0.8% 0.6% 0.3%

07:00 United Kingdom Nationwide house price index, y/y January 4.5% 4.7% 4.4%

07:00 Germany Gfk Consumer Confidence Survey February 9.4 9.3 9.4

07:00 Switzerland UBS Consumption Indicator December 1.66 1.62

The Australian dollar rose against the greenback amid domestic consumer price data. A report showed that inflation rose by 0.4% in the fourth quarter after a 0.5% rise in the third quarter. Economists had expected the consumer price index to grow by 0.3%. The CPI rose by 1.7% on a y/y basis in Q4, while economists had expected a 1.6% increase. Higher inflation suggests that the Reserve Bank of Australia is unlikely to cut interest rates any time soon. Petrol prices fell by 5.7%, however prices for tobacco gained 7.4%, while prices for domestic holiday and accommodation rose by 5.9%.

The euro traded range-bound ahead of euro zone inflation data scheduled for this week. Consumer prices are expected to have risen by 0.4% y/y in January after a 0.2% increase in December. Higher inflation would relief ECB policymakers, because they had to use unconventional tools to make inflation grow towards the target level of just under 2%.

France, Spain and Belgium will release their fourth quarter GDP reports. These data will help market participants assess strength of the euro zone economy.

EUR/USD: the pair fluctuated within $1.0850-70 in Asian trade

USD/JPY: the pair fell to Y118.00

GBP/USD: the pair traded within $1.4330-50

The most important news that are expected (GMT0):

(time / country / index / period / previous value / forecast)

07:45 France Consumer confidence January 96 96

09:30 United Kingdom BBA Mortgage Approvals December 45 45.5

12:00 U.S. MBA Mortgage Applications January 9%

15:00 U.S. New Home Sales December 490 500

15:30 U.S. Crude Oil Inventories January 3.979 3.3

19:00 U.S. Fed Interest Rate Decision 0.5% 0.5%

19:00 U.S. FOMC Statement

20:00 New Zealand RBNZ Interest Rate Decision 2.5% 2.5%

20:00 New Zealand RBNZ Rate Statement

21:45 New Zealand Trade Balance, mln December -779 -131

23:50 Japan Retail sales, y/y December -1.0% -0.1%