The current week concludes preparations for Christmas and New Year's Day 2023 🎄
Therefore, there are no major economic data due in anticipation of a long weekend, but a few data points may be of interest this week.
Specifically, in Japan, the latest interest rate decision will be announced on Tuesday. Also, US CB Consumer Confidence will be released on Wednesday and US Core PCE Price Index data on Friday.
Let's dive into this in more detail 🔻
BoJ Monetary Policy Statement & Press Conference – Tuesday, December 20th
📅 BoJ Monetary Policy Statement & Press Conference will be held on Tuesday, December 20.
Haruhiko Kuroda, BoJ's governor, will give a press conference in order to communicate with investors regarding the monetary policy. He will talk about the factors that affected the most recent interest rate decision, the overall economic outlook, inflation, and give clues regarding future monetary policy.
Asset(s) likely to be affected: $JPY and $NIKKEI225 🇯🇵
Why is this event important?
❗ It's expected that the country will report a further increase in inflation from 3.7% to 3.9% for November. Based on this, the Japanese regulator may decide to end the era of negative interest rates. This could cause increased volatility in the Yen and Japanese stocks.
CB Consumer Confidence – Wednesday, December 21st
📅 US CB Consumer Confidence will be released on Wednesday, December 21 at 17:00 (GMT +2).
Conference Board (CB) Consumer Confidence measures the level of consumer confidence in economic activity. It is a leading indicator as it can predict consumer spending, which plays a major role in overall economic activity.
Asset(s) likely to be affected: $USD and $US Stocks 🇺🇸
Why is this event important?
❗ A high level of consumer confidence stimulates economic expansion, while a low level can lead to an economic downturn. After the publication of this index, higher volatility is expected in the stock index. A higher index reading can serve as a positive signal for investors, and vice versa.
Core PCE Price Index Monthly – Friday, December 23rd
📅 On Friday, December 23, the monthly US Core PCE Price Index will be released at 15:30 (GMT+2).
The Core PCE Price Index is defined as personal consumption expenditure prices excluding food and energy. This economic indicator measures the prices paid by consumers for goods and services to reveal underlying inflation trends. It is measured without the volatility caused by movements in food and energy prices.
Asset(s) likely to be affected: $USD and $US Stocks 🇺🇸
Why is this event important?
❗ A rising Core PCE Price Index is also considered a measure of economic growth: while personal spending stimulates inflationary pressures, it could lead to raising interest rates. A high reading is positive (or Bullish) for the $USD.
That's it for this week! 👋