Coming up in the foreign exchange trading week

A new week is now well underway for foreign exchange market traders, and now’s the time to keep an eye on what’s coming up in the days ahead.

Tuesday of this week will begin with a meeting minutes release from the Reserve Bank of Australia.

This is expected at 1:30am GMT.

This will be followed by a speech from Philip Lowe, who serves as its governor.

This is due to take place at 5am GMT.

After that, the UK will release its unemployment rate.

This is expected to cover the month of February and is due to come out at 6am GMT.

It is widely expected that this will hold at 3.9%, where it was previously seen.

At 9am GMT, focus is expected to shift to the Eurozone.

In Germany, the Zentrum für Europäische Wirtschaftsforschung (ZEW) will reveal the results of its current situation survey for April.

An economic sentiment survey for the same month is likely to be released then as well.

Over in Canada, retail sales figures for February are due out at 12:30pm GMT.

These are set to show a change from 0.4% to 0.2% on a month on month basis.

When cars are taken out of the equation, the figure is expected to move from -0.1% to +0.3%.

An insight into the state of the US housing market is expected at 2pm GMT.

Existing home sales figures for March are set to show a change from 5.77m to 5.3m on a month on month basis.

Wednesday will be a particularly busy day in the markets, with lots scheduled in.

In Australia, for example, the Westpac Leading Index from the Melbourne Institute will be released at 12:30am GMT.

This was last recorded at -0.42%.

A retail price index for March will be released in the UK at 6am GMT.

This is expected to show a change from 2.5% to 2.3% on a year on year basis.

British consumer price index information for March is set to come out in the same time slot.

This is expected to show a change from 1.7% to 1.5% on a year on year basis.

In Canada, a core consumer price index for March will be out at 12:30pm GMT.

This is set to show no change from its previous position of 1.8% on a year on year basis.

It will be released by the Bank of Canada.

A preliminary European consumer confidence release for April will come out at 2pm GMT.

This is set to show a change from -11.6 to -19.6.

In Australia, a preliminary Manufacturing Purchasing Managers’ Index from the Commonwealth Bank of Australia will come out at 11pm GMT.

This looks set to show a change from 49.7 to 49.2 when it is released and will cover the month of April.

The data will be rounded off by details of foreign investment in Japan, including both bonds and stocks.