End of the Week is Here – But What’s Next for Forex Markets?

Chris Lee

Another forex trading week is drawing to a close, but traders would be foolish to switch off early given that there’s plenty on both today and over the course of the weekend.

Speeches from central bankers will form a big part of the day, and this is due to the Jackson Hole Symposium which is taking place from Thursday onwards in the US state of Wyoming.

This conference is a major event organised by the Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City, and it has been in operation since 1978 and held in Jackson Hole since 1981.

Central bankers will be gathering together as part of the event, and it is likely that they will be joined by others who lead in the monetary policy field, such as economists.

The first speech today will be from James Bullard, who is the President of the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis. He will speak at 11.30am GMT, and then again at 12pm GMT.

At 12.30pm GMT, there will be a speech from Robert Kaplan, who is the current president and CEO of the Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas.

It is expected that all of these central bankers will use their speeches to illustrate what might happen to interest rates in the future.

Attention will be diverted from Jackson Hole for a while when Canada’s retail sales information for June comes out at 12.30pm GMT. Month on month, it is expected that this will remain firm at -0.1%. Excluding cars, however, the figures are expected to instead show a change from -0.3% to +0.0%.

Back in Jackson Hole, more mid-tier central bankers will make speeches throughout the afternoon. However, the main events will be the speech from the US Federal Reserve’s current Chair, Jerome Powell. It is expected by many analysts that this speech will focus in part on the recent decision of the Fed to cut interest rates and may hint at whether or not another cut could be on the cards for the next Fed meeting in September.

The Bank of England’s Governor Mark Carney is also scheduled to speak, this time at 7pm GMT.

The meeting will continue into the weekend and will stretch out over Saturday. Speeches scheduled on that day include one from Silvana Tenreyro, who sits on the Bank of England’s Monetary Policy Committee. This is due to occur at 2pm GMT.

Philip Lowe, the Governor of the Reserve Bank of Australia, will speak at 4.25pm GMT.

Saturday will also see the start of the Group of 7 meeting, which will bring together finance leaders and other prominent politicians from the world’s most powerful countries.

It is forecast that trade will be a big topic at this event, especially given the ongoing breakdown in import and export relationships between China and the US.

Brexit, and the post-Brexit landscape of global trading relationships, is also thought to be on the agenda.

Risk Statement: Trading Foreign Exchange on margin carries a high level of risk and may not be suitable for all investors. The possibility exists that you could lose more than your initial deposit. The high degree of leverage can work against you as well as for you.

Chris Lee
Between 74-89% of CFD traders lose Between 74-89 % of retail investor accounts lose money when trading CFDs
  • Low trading costs
  • Great market flow
  • Research and analysis which helps spot trades
  • Wide range of Copy and Social Trading options
  • Limited range of non-forex markets
Your capital is at risk Europe* CFDs ar...
  • Multi-asset broker offering a wide variety of markets
  • Strong regulatory framework
  • Innovative risk management tools
  • Choice of market-leading platforms
  • Wide spreads on some markets
  • Expiry date on Demo Accounts
Blackbull LogoYour capital is at risk
  • User-friendly platform with great trade-analysis tools
  • Leverage Up To 1:500
  • Spreads as low as 0.00 pips
  • Quality trade execution thanks to high-spec IT infrastructure
  • $0 minimum account opening balance
  • 26,000 tradeable instruments
  • Not available in all jurisdictions
  • Regulatory infrastructure
XM LogoYour capital is at risk
  • Low minimum deposit
  • Super- tight bid-offer spreads
  • Impressive trading platforms
  • Tier-1 regulators
  • Difficult to contact tech support
  • No Crypto