By FX Empire.com

Economic Events: (GMT)

13:30 USD Core PCE Price Index (MoM) 0.2% 0.2%

The Core Personal Consumption spending (PCE) Price Index measures the changes in the price of goods and services purchased by consumers for the purpose of consumption, excluding food and energy. Prices are weighted according to total expenditure per item. It measures price change from the perspective of the consumer. It is a key way to measure changes in purchasing trends and inflation.

13:30 USD Personal Spending (MoM) 0.4% 0.0%

Personal Spending measures the change in the inflation-adjusted value of all spending by consumers. Consumer spending accounts for a majority of overall economic activity. However, this report tends to have a mild impact, as government data on retail sales is released about two weeks earlier.

13:30 USD Initial Jobless Claims 353K 351K

13:30 USD Continuing Jobless Claims 3400K 3392K

Initial Jobless Claims measures the number of individuals who filed for unemployment insurance for the first time during the past week. This is the earliest U.S. economic data, but the market impact varies from week to week. Continuing Jobless Claims measures the number of unemployed individuals who qualify for benefits under unemployment insurance.

15:00 USD ISM Manufacturing Index 54.6 54.1

The Institute of Supply Management (ISM) Manufacturing Purchasing Managers Index (PMI) rates the relative level of business conditions including employment, production, new orders, prices, supplier deliveries, and inventories.

The data is compiled from a survey of approximately 400 purchasing managers in the manufacturing industry.

On the index, a level above 50.0 indicates industry expansion, below indicates contraction.

15:00 USD Fed Chairman Bernanke Testifies

Federal ReserveChairman Ben Bernanke (February 2006 – January 2014) is to testify on the economic outlook and recent monetary policy actions before the Joint Economic Committee, in Washington DC. The testimony is in two parts; the first is a prepared statement, then the committee conducts a question and answer session. The Q&A portion of the testimony can see heavy market volatility for the duration.

USD/CAD Fundamental Analysis March 1, 2012, Forecast

USD/CAD Fundamental Analysis March 1, 2012, Forecast

Analysis and Recommendations:

The USD/CAD is currently trading 0.9889 after falling to 0.9845. Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke fueled strength in the dollar, and as upbeat U.S. economic data dulled safe-haven demand for the metal. In testimony prepared for the House Financial Services Committee, Bernanke said that recent improvement in employment has put the Fed on alert and that it’s watching incoming data closely. Bernanke stopped short of saying the improvement in the jobless rate meant a better economy ahead.

The Commerce Department said Wednesday that the economy expanded at a 3 percent annual rate in the October-December quarter — the fastest pace since the spring of 2010. It exceeded the previous estimate of 2.8 percent.

The European Central Bank on Wednesday confirmed a larger-than-expected 529.5 billion euro ($713.4 billion) in loans to banks at its second three-year long-term refinancing operation.

On Thursday, the Canadian Government will report the Current Account index which measures the difference in value between exported and imported goods, services and interest payments during the reported month. The goods portion is the same as the monthly Trade Balance figure.

February 29, 2012 end of the month Economic Releases actual v. forecast

NZD

Business Confidence

28.00

16.90

AUD

HIA New Home Sales (MoM)

-7.3%

-4.9%

GBP

GfK Consumer Confidence

-29

-27

-29

AUD

Construction Work Done (QoQ)

-4.6%

-0.6%

11.7%

AUD

Retail Sales (MoM)

0.3%

0.3%

-0.1%

AUD

Private Sector Credit (MoM)

0.2%

0.3%

0.3%

JPY

Housing Starts (YoY)

-1.1%

-3.3%

-7.3%

EUR

German Import Price Index (MoM)

1.3%

0.6%

0.3%

EUR

French Consumer Spending (MoM)

-0.4%

0.3%

-0.2%

CHF

KOF Leading Indicators

-0.12

-0.11

-0.15

DKK

Danish GDP (QoQ)

0.2%

0.6%

-0.5%

SEK

Swedish GDP (QoQ)

-1.1%

-0.7%

1.6%

EUR

German Unemployment Rate

6.8%

6.7%

6.8%

EUR

German Unemployment Change

0K

-5K

-26K

GBP

M4 Money Supply (MoM)

1.6%

-0.8%

-1.4%

GBP

Mortgage Approvals

59K

54K

55K

GBP

Net Lending to Individuals

1.8B

0.8B

0.9B

EUR

CPI (YoY)

2.6%

2.7%

2.7%

EUR

Core CPI (YoY)

1.5%

1.8%

1.6%

EUR

German 10-Year Bund Auction

1.830%

1.820%

USD

MBA Mortgage Applications

-0.3%

-4.5%

USD

GDP Price Index (QoQ)

0.9%

0.4%

0.4%

USD

GDP (QoQ)

3.0%

2.8%

2.8%

Sovereign Bond Auction Schedule

Mar 01 09:30 Spain Bono auction

Mar 01 09:50 France OAT auction

Mar 01 10.30 UK Auctions 4.0% 2022 conventional Gilt

Originally posted here