There were no major data releases from the UK yesterday, with traders focused on tomorrow's BoE Inflation Report Hearings. Mark Carney will give his latest assessment of the U.K. economy this week, days after his deputy emphasized that the Bank of England hasn’t made any promises about maintaining record-low rates. The BOE Governor will testify to lawmakers in London on Tuesday and a report on Friday is set to reveal what drove growth in the third quarter. The timing of the BOE’s first tightening in more than eight years is in the spotlight as the Federal Reserve prepares to increase its key rate and the European Central Bank considers adding stimulus.
In the US session
Existing Home Sales figures are scheduled for a release.
Total existing-home sales fell 3.4% to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 5.36 million in October from 5.55 million in September. Despite last month's decline, sales are still 3.9% above a year ago (5.16 million). Mixed signals of slowing economic growth and volatility in the financial markets slightly tempered demand and contributed to the decreasing pace of sales.
Focus of tomorrow's session will be on BoE Inflation Report Hearings, which should bring a lot volatility to the markets in the light of recent rate hike speculations. In the US session GDP and CB Consumer Confidence figures are scheduled for a release. Analysts are forecasting 2.0% increase, while Consumer Confidence is expected to increase to 99.3.
Figures to watch:
Inflation Report Hearings (Tuesday 10:00)
Prelim GDP (Tuesday 14:30)
CB Consumer Confidence (Tuesday 16:00)