Economic calendar: Data from the US and central bankers

Summary:
- EU trade balance data to be released in the morning
- Will Philly Fed confirm improvement signalled by NY Empire?
- A lot of central bankers’ speeches scheduled

There is not a single typical “market-moving” reading scheduled for release on Thursday. However, some semi-important prints are expected to be released, especially from the United States. Jobless claims, housing market data and Philly Fed will see daylight at 1:30 pm BST and may trigger some minor moves on the USD market. Focus will be especially on Philly Fed as Empire index released yesterday showed a major bounce higher and investors want to see whether this improvement will be confirmed by other regional indices. Apart from that, trade balance data from the European Union may be an important piece of a puzzle amid all the trade uncertainty the markets are facing right now but it is rather unlikely that we will see any major price reaction in the aftermath of a release.

10:00 am BST - EU, Trade balance for March. Expected: €19 billion, previous: €19.5 billion

1:30 pm BST - US, Housing starts for April. Expected: 1205k, previous: 1139k

1:30 pm BST - US, Building permits for April. Expected: 1290k, previous: 1288k

1:30 pm BST - US, Weekly jobless claims. Expected: 220k, previous: 228k.

1:30 pm BST - US, Philly Fed for May. Expected: 9, previous: 8.5

1:30 pm BST - Canada, Manufacturing sales for March. Expected: 1.1% MoM, previous: -0.2% MoM

Central bankers’ speeches:
- 8:30 am BST - ECB’s Praet
- 9:15 am BST - Bundesbank President Weidmann
- 12:00 pm BST - Riksbank Governor Ingves
- 1:30 pm BST - ECB Vice President Guidos
- 3:00 pm BST - Fed’s Quarles
- 5:05 pm BST - Fed’s Kashkari
- 5:15 pm BST - Fed’s Brainard
- 6:30 pm BST - BoE’s Haskel
- 7:00 pm BST - ECB’s Coeure

EURUSD managed to recover greatly during the previous  2 weeks but subsequent gains were limited by the downward sloping trendline and the 50-session moving average (green line). In case the pullback is to be continued, the reaction to the 1.1185 handle may be crucial for the pair. Source: xStation5