December News in Forex

[CarlosR]

European Central Bank president Mario Draghi in Focus

The European Central Bank delivers its decision on monetary policy on Thursday and is widely expected to leave interest rates unchanged. Investors also expected to carefully monitor a possible update from the ECB on its plans for its quantitative easing programme in 2018.
The ECB’s monetary policy decision will be accompanying by an appearance from ECB president Mario Draghi in a press conference at 08:30ET.
EUR/USD rose 0.72% to $1.1827.

Bank of England Rate Decision
Economist forecast Bank of England (BoE) officials will vote to keep interest rate unchanged following the central bank’s decision to hike rates in November for the first time in decade.
Ahead of the BoE rate decision, inflation continues to run ahead of the central bank’s 2% target as brexit related uncertainties weigh on economic growth amid stagnant productivity and wage growth.

[CarlosR]

Top-Tier US Economic Data on Tap
Market participants look ahead to the release of a duo of economic reports on initial jobless claims and retail sales due Thursday, for signs of continued growth in the U.S. economy following the Federal Reserve’s decision to hike rates on Wednesday.

The Labor department releases its weekly count of the number of individuals who filed for unemployment insurance for the week ended Dec 8. Economist forecast initial jobless claims to rise by 3,000 to 239,000.
Retail sales growth, meanwhile, is expected to rebound to 0.7% in November, following a surprise fall in the previous month on the back of hurricane-related woes.

The dollar fell sharply against its rivals on Wednesday, as the Federal Reserve’s decision to hike rates, and revise upward its future economic growth projections failed to lift sentiment.