Economic calendar: Will SNB surprise markets?

- SNB expected to hold rates unchanged
- Semi-important data from the US and EU

8:30 am BST - SNB rate decision. The Swiss National Bank has kept interest rate at a record low of -0.75% for over 4 years now. It is highly unlikely that central bankers from Switzerland make any changes to the level of interest rates during today’s meeting. SNB said that it is ready to deliver a rate cut once the situation requires it. However, the Bank needs to be careful as pushing rates deeper into negative territory would exert more pressure on domestic banks and pension funds. More details may be offered during the post-meeting conference that is scheduled to start at 9:00 am BST.

10:00 am BST - Euro area, Industrial production for April. Industrial production readings from the EU member states have been already released and they did not show an optimistic picture. Having said that, the reading for the whole euro area is likely to be weak as well. While this reading seldom moves the market, a third consecutive monthly drop could encourage monetary authorities to turn even more dovish. A drop of 0.4% MoM is forecasted.

1:30 pm BST - US, Jobless claims report. The US initial jobless claims have been declining steadily since the financial crisis. A few readings below 200k were released this year. However, prints released for May showed somewhat higher values than the ones from April hinting at some struggles at the US labour market. It was actually confirmed by ADP and NFP reports released last week therefore keeping track of the upcoming jobless claims reports may be a wise move. Markets expect a reading of 216k.

USDCHF has been in a downward move for the major part of May and eventually broke below the upward trendline. The pair tries to recoup some losses at the beginning of June. In case the upward move is continued some resistance may surface in the vicinity of 200-session moving average (purple line on the chart above). Source: xStation5