This week, markets will look to a number of central bank meetings, while at the same time it will be relatively quiet in the US following positive US employment data last Friday, which provided some support for the US dollar.
The highlights of this week's economic calendar are:
Monday - Mario Draghi testimony
Mario Draghi, Governor of the European Central Bank, will testify before the European Parliament on the annual report of the ECB. Also on Monday, ISM non-manufacturing PMI data will be released in the US and is expected to record 56.5 points in January.
Tuesday - Australian Interest Rate Decision
The RBA is due to meet on Tuesday and it is widely expected that interest rates will remain unchanged at 1.5% historic lows for the 16th meeting in a row and that its policy will be kept neutral. Additional economic data to be released in Australia on the same day are retail sales and trade balance figures.
Late on Tuesday, New Zealand's labour market data for the fourth quarter of 2017 will be released, and it is expected that employment will rise by 0.4% and unemployment will rise to 4.7%.
Wednesday - New Zealand interest rate decision
The RBNZ is scheduled to meet on Wednesday and is expected to keep interest rates unchanged for the eighth consecutive meeting at a historic low of 1.75%. The monetary policy statement will be issued and followed by the press conference of acting governor Grant Spencer, who will discuss the decision. Adrian Orr, the new governor, is due to take office on March 27.
Thursday - British interest rate decision
The Bank of England is due to announce its interest rate decision and it is expected that interest rates will be kept at 0.5% to see the impact of the last rate hike in November. The quarterly inflation report will be released at the same time. There will also be a press conference for Mark Carney, governor of BoE.
China's trade balance data will also be released and is expected to record a surplus of $ 54.9 billion in January from the previous month's surplus of $ 54.7 billion.
Friday - Canadian Employment Data
On Friday morning, the Reserve Bank of Australia's monetary policy statement will be released to give further details on the Bank's vision and an update of the economic projections.
Canada's employment data for January is due to be released mid-day. The economy is expected to add about 44,000 jobs in January after adding 78.6K jobs in December and unemployment to stabilize at 5.7%.
