Daily Update - 8th June 2017
The Australian dollar rose 0.64% on Wednesday amid the release of solid growth figures for the first quarter. The better-than-expected GDP figures caught investors off guard as many were expecting the Australian economy to have suffered more during the first three months of the year. The gross national product rose 1.7% y/y compared to 1.6% median forecast. On a quarter-over-quarter basis, the economy grew 0.3% (seasonally adjusted). The United States Consumer Credit Change was registered at $8.2B and went down below the forecasted values ($15.5B) in April. The United Kingdom RICS Housing Price Balance came in at 17% and went down below the expected values (20%) in May. Three Big events will be released today. The UK will head to the polls in what will be the most important vote in decades to decide who will lead the country into the Brexit negotiations and what direction it will take in the years to come. Another major risk event today is the ECB meeting, which after reports yesterday of leaked draft ECB staff projections could be very interesting indeed. The leaked draft indicated that the central bank is revising higher its GDP forecasts but lowering its inflation forecasts through 2019. Finally, today, former FBI Director James Comey will testify before the Senate Intelligence Committee regarding a number of events involving President Donald Trump including the links between his campaign and Russia, as well as allegations that he requested at the time that an investigation into his National Security Advisor – Michael Flynn – be dropped. Traders will be following the public part of the hearing with great interest and should there be any “bombshells”, it could ruffle the markets. Yesterday’s Focus
Today’s Focus
