US Data Releases Set to Dominate Wednesday’s Forex Trading

Now that the midway point has been reached in the foreign exchange trading week, it’s time to explore what might be on the cards for the rest of the week.

Today (Wednesday) there will be a number of important US data releases. Housing starts for the month of June will be out at 12.30pm GMT and are expected to show a change from 1,269,000 to 1,261,000 month on month.

Building permits data, however, will show a slight rise – even for the same period. Month on month this is expected to move from 1,299,000 to 1,300,000.

Away from the US, the Bank of Canada will release its core consumer price index for June at 12.30pm GMT. This is due to show a year on year change from 2.1% to 2.6%.

Japanese imports and exports data is also expected to be announced at 11.50pm GMT. June’s exports are due to show a year on year change from -7.8% to -5.6%, while June’s imports are due to reveal a change from -1.5% to -0.4% for the same period.

Looking ahead to Thursday, the Australian employment change rate for June will be out at 1.30am GMT. This is expected to show a change from 42,300 to 10,000. The overall June unemployment rate, however, is expected to hold firm at 5.2%.

In Britain, retail sales information for June will be released at 8.30am GMT. This is expected to show a shift from -0.5% to -0.3% on a month on month basis. Excluding fuel, however, the month on month change will be smaller and will go from -0.3% to -0.2%.

The preliminary Michigan consumer sentiment index for July will be out of the US at 2pm GMT and is expected to reveal a shift from 98.2 to 98.5.

Continuing jobless claims in the US for the dates around July 5^th will be out at 12.30pm GMT. These are expected to show a change from 1,723,000 to 1,700,000. Initial jobless claims for the following week are forecast to show a change from 209,000 to 216,000 – a sharp rise, and one which dollar traders may quickly interpret as a sign of negative things to come.

On Friday, public sector net borrowing figures will be released from the US covering the month of June. These are due out at 8.30am GMT and are due to show a change from £4.463 billion to £3.200 billion.

Canadian retail sales data for May is expected to show a healthy leap month on month when it is released at 12.30pm GMT. It is due to go from 0.1% to 0.3%. Excluding cars, the leap for the same period is likely to be even higher. It is expected to go from 0.1% to 0.4%.

A speech from James Bullard, President of the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis in the US and a member of the Federal Open Market Committee, will occur at 3.05pm GMT.

Another speech, this time from Eric Rosengren, President and CEO of the Federal Reserve Bank of Boston, will occur at 8.30pm GMT, rounding off the foreign exchange trading week.