Yesterday – notes Greg Secker – the FTSE closed down 38 points at 4,108. The index gapped up 70 points on the open and continued to rally gaining 100 points by mid-morning. Then the sellers gained control and the index fell nearly 200 points during the afternoon before eventually closing down only 38 points. This was a very interesting days trading considering that the US markets were closed because of the public holiday – Martin Luther King Day. Today we see Barak Obama inaugurated into the WhiteHouse and will be watching the US Markets closely to see how they react today and over the coming weeks. On the Forex news we see a wide range of news releases across many currencies – please trade with care today. At 09.30 our year-on-year CPI is due for release. The forecast is for a 0.6% drop from 2.0% to 1.4%. Watch for a possible movement to the up side in the GBP if the actual is greater than the forecast. This figure is considered the UK’s most important inflation data figure because it’s used as the Bank of England’s inflation target, and consumer prices account for a majority of overall inflation. At 10.00 the German Economic statement is due to be released. This is a survey of 350 institutional investors and analysts to determine economic outlook for the next 6 months, and we are expecting a slight increase from -45.2 to -43.5. Watch the EUR should the result be different. Then at 13.30 the Bank of Canada will be releasing the rate statement, and also the overnight lending rate. A forecasted drop of 0.5% is expected – down from 1.5% to 1.0%. This is released 8 times a year and if the actual is greater than the forecast then this is good for the currency. Those of you trading into the evening may be interesting in knowing that the New Zealand monthly Core Retail Sales and monthly Retail sales will be announced at 21.45. Good trading.
