Foreign exchange market. European session: the British pound rose against the U.S. dollar after the Bank of England’s interest rate decision

Economic calendar (GMT0):

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

00:00 Australia HIA New Home Sales, m/m December +2.2% -1.9%

00:30 Australia Retail Sales, M/M December +0.1% +0.3% +0.2%

00:30 Australia Retail Sales Y/Y December +4.5% +3.3%

06:45 Switzerland SECO Consumer Climate Quarter IV -11 -13 -6

07:00 Germany Factory Orders n.s.a. (YoY) December -0.4% +3.4%

07:00 Germany Factory Orders s.a. (MoM) December -2.4% +1.4% +4.2%

08:00 United Kingdom Halifax house price index January +0.9% +0.2% +2.0%

08:00 United Kingdom Halifax house price index 3m Y/Y January +7.8% +7.8% +8.5%

12:00 United Kingdom BoE Interest Rate Decision 0.50% 0.50% 0.50%

12:00 United Kingdom Asset Purchase Facility 375 375 375

12:00 United Kingdom MPC Rate Statement

The U.S. dollar traded mixed against the most major currencies ahead of the U.S. economic data. The number of initial jobless claims in the U.S. is expected to increase by 12,000 to 277,000.

The U.S. trade deficit is expected to narrow to $38.0 billion in December from $39.0 billion in November.

The euro traded higher against the U.S. dollar as concerns over Greece's further bailout policy eased. The new Greece government plans to renegotiate the terms of its bailout.

Earlier, the European Central Bank said that it would not accept Greek government bonds.

German seasonal adjusted factory orders rose 4.2% in December, exceeding expectations for a 1.4% increase, after a 2.4% drop in November.

The British pound rose against the U.S. dollar after the Bank of England's (BoE) interest rate decision. The BoE kept its interest rates unchanged at 0.5% and its asset purchase program unchanged at £375 billion. This decision was widely expected.

Analysts expect that the BoE will start to raise interest rate later in early 2016.

The Canadian dollar traded higher against the U.S. dollar ahead of Canadian trade data. The Canadian trade deficit is expected to widen to C$1.0 billion in December from C$0.64 billion in November.

The Swiss franc traded lower against the U.S. dollar. The SECO consumer climate index for Switzerland increased to -6 in the fourth quarter from -11 in the previous quarter, beating expectations for a decrease to -13.

EUR/USD: the currency pair increased to $1.1456

GBP/USD: the currency pair rose to $1.5258

USD/JPY: the currency pair decreased to Y117.44

The most important news that are expected (GMT0):

13:30 Canada Trade balance, billions December -0.64 -1.00

13:30 U.S. International Trade, bln December -39.0 -38.0

13:30 U.S. Initial Jobless Claims January 265 277

13:30 U.S. Nonfarm Productivity, q/q (Preliminary) Quarter IV -2.3% +0.9%

13:30 U.S. Unit Labor Costs, q/q (Preliminary) Quarter IV -1.0% +1.1%