| Time | Country | Event | Period | Previous value | Forecast | Actual |
|---|
| 07:30 | Switzerland | Consumer Price Index (YoY) | February | 1.3% | 1.1% | 1.2% |
During today's Asian trading, the US dollar declined slightly against major currencies, while investors are preparing for the publication of new US data that will help clarify the timing of the Fed's monetary policy easing.
The US Dollar Currency Index (DXY), which tracks the dynamics of the dollar against six currencies (euro, swiss franc, yen, Canadian dollar, pound sterling and swedish krona) fell by 0.08% to 103.78. As for data, PMI indexes for February will be released tomorrow, and a key report on the labor market will be presented on Friday. The pace of hiring remains strong, and experts expect that employment increased by 190 thousand in January. In addition, the unemployment rate is expected to remain unchanged, and the growth of average hourly earnings slowed to 0.2% amid normalization of supply and demand for workers.
The euro rose by 0.15% against the US dollar. Gradually, the focus of investors' attention is shifting to the ECB meeting, which will be held on Thursday. Economists believe that ECB policymakers are likely to continue to exercise some caution in assessing monetary policy. Therefore, we should not expect ECB policy makers to decide to cut rates at the moment. According to economists, the timing of the initial rate cut will be postponed to the middle of this year. While the eurozone economy is on the verge of recession, inflation, which is still above the ECB's target, and wage growth, which is probably still too high to achieve this goal, should keep the ECB on standby this week and over the next few months.
The yen fell by 0.16% against the US dollar, while market participants continued to analyze comments from Bank of Japan policymakers, trying to assess whether the Central Bank could abandon its policy of negative interest rates at the March meeting or wait until April.