Key Fundamental Forex Events for the Week of June 13^th through June 17^th

The following table lists the key economic data and other events that came out during the week of June 13^th through June 17^th.

The list also indicates how much each release deviated from the market consensus forecast upon release, as well as what the affected major currency pair or pairs did after each event or set of events.

Monday, June 13^th:

• JPY - Core Machinery Orders -3.3%, as expected. The JPY was unchanged.
• NZD - REINZ HPI -1.8%, as expected. The NZD fell.
• EUR - ECB President Trichet spoke. The “decision in April confirmed that the separation principle is strictly applied and that our non-conventional measures do not restrict in any way our ability to toughen the monetary policy stance when facing inflationary pressures.” The EUR rose.

Tuesday, June 14^th:

• JPY - Monetary Policy Statement. "Regarding risks to the economic outlook, there is a high degree of uncertainty about the effects of the earthquake disaster on Japan's economy," The JPY declined.
• JPY - Overnight Call Rate <0.10%, as expected.
• JPY - BOJ Press Conference was dovish. The JPY declined.
• GBP - CPI 4.5%, as expected. The GBP was higher.
• USD - Core Retail Sales 0.3%, as expected.
• USD - PPI 0.2, versus 0.1% expected.
• USD - Retail Sales -0.2, versus -0.3%. The USD was mixed.
• NZD - Core Retail Sales 0.7%, as expected. The NZD rose.

Wednesday, June 15^th:

• AUD - RBA Governor Glenn Stevens spoke. He stated that “further tightening of monetary policy is likely to be required at some point for inflation to remain consistent with the 2-3 per cent medium target”. The AUD declined.
• GBP - Claimant Count Change 19.6K, versus 7.2K expected. The GBP fell.
• USD - TIC Long-Term Purchases 30.6B, versus 45.3B expected.
• USD - Core CPI 0.3, versus 0.2% expected. The USD was higher.
• GBP - BOE Governor Mervyn King spoke.

Thursday, June 16^th:

• CHF - Libor Rate 0.25%, as expected. The CHF rose.
• CHF - SNB Monetary Policy Assessment and Press Conference. The SNB cited risks to growth from the strong Swiss Franc and lowered inflation expectations for 2012 and 2013.
• GBP - Retail Sales -1.4%, versus -0.5% expected. The GBP fell.
• USD - Building Permits 0.61M versus 0.55M expected. The USD mostly rose.
• USD – Weekly Initial Jobless Claims 414K versus 421K expected.
• USD - Philadelphia Fed Manufacturing Index -7.7 versus +7.1 expected.

Friday, June 17^th:

• JPY - Monetary Policy Meeting Minutes. “The need for further monetary easing is potentially big but at this stage there is no great merit in boosting the asset buying fund,” The JPY rose.
• EUR - ECB President Trichet spoke. “the most recent countries to join the euro area, Greece, Portugal and Ireland, in particular, have lost competitiveness vis-à-vis their main trading partners in the euro area.” The EUR rose.
• CAD - Wholesale Sales -0.1 versus -0.2%. The CAD rose.
• USD - Preliminary University of Michigan Consumer Sentiment 71.8 versus 74.4. The USD fell.

Technical Recap for the Majors This Week

EURUSD: 

Forecast: Lower
Actual: Neutral from a 1.4321 open to a 1.4326 close.

USDJPY:

Forecast: Mildly Lower
Actual: Mildly lower from an 80.25 open to an 80.03 close.

GBPUSD: 

Forecast: Mildly Lower
Actual: Mildly lower from a 1.6225 open to a 1.6185 close.

AUDUSD: 

Forecast: Mildly Lower
Actual: Mildly higher from a 1.0530 open to a 1.0622 close.

USDCAD: 

Forecast: Mildly Lower
Actual: Neutral from a 0.9789 open to a 0.9798 close.

NZDUSD: 

Forecast: Mildly Higher
Actual: Mildly lower from a 0.8198 open to a 0.8106 close.