Today’s fundamental on the economical calendar is dominated by the FOMC interest rate decision and accompanying statement which is due out at 19.15 GMT.  Before this momentous event we have a number of other interesting news items which began earlier this morning with the French CPI data which came in at the forecast of -0.4%.  This was followed by worse than expected news for Europe’s Industrial Production figures which came in at -0.6% against a forecast of +0.3% – not good news for the Eurozone.  However, this indicator tends to have a relatively mild impact on the currency markets as Germany and France release their data separately, as they account for approximately 50% of the total Eurozone economy.  The other significant item of news in the US ahead of the FED statement will be the Trade Balance Figures which are forecast at -28.4bn versus a previous of -26bn with the deficit probably widening yet again as a result of the recent rise in crude oil prices.  Later in the session we have the crude oil inventories, details of which I have covered in the my specialist oil blog.

You can keep up to date with all the latest fundamental news on the economic calendar, latest currency news and live currency charts by simply following the links.  I have also included details on an excellent ECN broker.

Although the markets are focused on the two day FOMC meeting which starts later today there are a number of fundamental news items on the economic calendar for both the Euro and the US Dollar which are worth mentioning.  The day started with the German final Consumer Price Index numbers which although came in marginally ahead of target at 0% against a forecast of -0.1%, it was the WPI (Wholesale Price Index) numbers released at the same time which have shocked the market.  As a leading indicator of consumer inflation the WPI measures the change in the price of goods sold by wholesalers and by coming in at -0.5% against a forecast of 0.1% reveals that the spectre of deflation still stalks the Eurozone.  This fall is the first in 22 years and comes during the worst recession since WWII which has all but strangled consumer spending.  Meanwhile in France the French Government Balance posted a figure of -86.6bn against a previous of -88.7bn, a marginal improvement.  This number represents the difference in value between central government income and spending for the year to date.

In the US the preliminary Non Farm Productivity figures are due shortly and are expected to show that productivity has most likely risen strongly in the last quarter.  This is coupled with the Preliminary Unit Labour Costs which are the annualized change in the price of businesses pay for labour, excluding the farming industry.  Both the above items have now been released and have actually come in worse than expected – so much for the experts!!  The day rounds off in the US with yet another diffusion index with the catchy title of the IBD/TIPP Economic Optimism forecast today at 47.4, a marginal improvement over last month’s 46.3 – the closer to 50 & above the better.

You can keep up to date with all the latest fundamental news on the economic calendar, latest currency news and live currency charts by simply following the links.  I have also included details on an excellent ECN broker.