EUR/USD: Minutes of FOMC Meeting and a Speech by Mario Draghi
Today at 18:20 (GMT+2) a head of the US Federal reserve Bank of Cleveland and a member of the FOMC Loretta J. Maester will give a speech. Mrs Maester participates in the formation of monetary policy of the US Fed and supports continuation of the monetary policy tightening in the United States. Later, at 20:00 (GMT+2) minutes of the last meeting of the Committee on open market operations will be released. As a speech by Janet Yellen at this meeting and the results of the meeting are already known, the minutes are expected to be restrained. Janet Yellen supports the plan of gradual tightening of monetary policy.
The minutes might show once again that the executives of the US Fed have not reached a general opinion. President of Federal Reserve Bank of Boston Eric Rosengren said on Monday that it would be wise to resume a gradual rise in interest rates sooner than expected in futures market.
Strong US macroeconomic data received last week can add arguments in favor of the rise in interest rates, if not in April then in June.
Recall, the number of new jobs outside US agricultural sectors amounted to 215 000 against the forecast of 205 000 and revised number in February from 242 000 to 245 000. Average hourly wages increased by 0.3% in March against the forecast of 0.2% and the previous value of -0.1%. Indices of business activity in the manufacturing sector, gradual acceleration of inflation and consumer confidence in March were also positive.
Tomorrow 15:00, market participants will focus attention on the speech of the ECB President Mario Draghi, in which he will address the issues of the current economic situation in the Eurozone and the prospects of monetary policy. Earlier in March, ECB President Mario Draghi said that the Central Bank was not going to continue to reduce interest rates, which caused the rise in Euro. Mario Draghi supports soft policy of the Central Bank, and it is possible that his tomorrow's speech be aimed at reducing the rise in Euro and the pair EUR/USD. Next ECB meetings will take place on 21 April and 2 June.
Therefore, today's and tomorrow's speeches and comments of the leaders of the US Fed and the ECB, and the minutes of FOMC meeting will affect the dynamics of the pair EUR/USD until the end of April.
