Midweek in the forex markets is here – what’s happening?

Now that the midpoint of the foreign exchange week is here, it’s time to take a look at what’s on the cards for the rest of the week.

Today (Wednesday), there will be a retail sales control group release covering the month of September from the US.

This is expected to hold firm at 0.3%.

Excluding automobiles, however, this is expected to go from 0.0% to 0.2% on a month on month basis.

In Canada, the Bank of Canada’s core consumer price index release for September will be out at 12:30pm GMT.

This is expected to show a change from -0.1% to 0%.

At 1pm GMT, there’ll be a speech from the Bank of England’s governor Mark Carney.

This is expected to focus on issues such as monetary policy, although it is possible it will also focus in part on the ongoing Brexit battles.

More central banker speeches are scheduled for later in the afternoon, including one from Philip Lane who sits on the Executive Board of the European Central Bank.

There will be a further speech from the president of the German Bundesbank, Jens Weidmann.

This is expected to happen at 5pm GMT.

Later in the day, there will be a second speech from the Bank of England’s Governor Mark Carney.

This is expected to take place at 10pm GMT.

Finally, the day in the GMT time zone will end with a speech from Guy Debelle, who is the assistant governor for financial markets at the Reserve Bank of Australia.

Perhaps the main market-moving event scheduled on the cards for Thursday is the European Council’s Brexit summit, which is expected to take place over the course of the day and potentially on into the evening.

This is the summit at which any Brexit deal, if one can be struck, will most likely need to be approved before going to the House of Commons in the UK for final approval.

Australian employment change data for September will be out at 12:30am GMT on Thursday.

This is expected to show a change from 34,700 to 15,000.

There will also be a British retail sales data release covering the month of September.

This is due out at 8:30am GMT, and will no doubt indicate whether or not the Brexit process has had a major material impact on the way that British people are spending their cash.

Year on year, this is expected to show a change from 2.7% to 3.2%.

The usual round of weekly US joblessness claims will hit at 12:30pm GMT.

Continuing jobless claims for the dates around 4^th October are expected to show a change from 1,684,000 to 1,682,000.

Initial jobless claims for the dates around 11^th October are forecast to show a change from 210,000 to 215,000.

A speech from the Reserve Bank of Australia’s Philip Lowe will occur at 8pm GMT.

A speech from the US Federal Reserve’s John C. Williams, the president of Federal Reserve Bank of New York, will follow at 8:20pm GMT.