European Economic News Preview: ECB, BoE Monetary Policy Announcements Due

Monetary policy announcements from the European Central Bank and the Bank of England are the major events due on Thursday, headlining a busy day for the European economic news.

Both the euro area and UK central banks are set to hike the benchmark rates by 50 basis points, bigger than the US Federal Reserve’s quarter point hike on Wednesday.

At 2.00 am ET, Destatis is scheduled to issue Germany’s foreign trade data.
Economists forecast exports to fall 3.3 percent on month and imports to ease 0.8 percent in December.

At 3.00 am ET, Spain unemployment data is due from the labor ministry.

In the meantime, the State Secretariat for Economic Affairs releases Swiss consumer confidence survey results. The consumer sentiment is forecast to rise to -38 in the first quarter from -47 in the fourth quarter.

At 7.00 am ET, the Bank of England is set to announce its monetary policy decision. Although the US Federal Reserve softened its tightening stance on Wednesday, markets widely expect the BoE to hike the rate by 50 basis points for the second straight meeting as wage growth is persistently high and service price inflation remains strong.

At 8.15 am ET, the interest rate decision is due from the European Central Bank. The bank is expected to raise the key rates by another half percentage points. The main refinancing rate is forecast to hit 3.00 percent.

At 8.30 am ET, the Czech National Bank announces its interest rate decision. The bank is likely to hold its benchmark rate at 7.00 percent.

At 8.45 am ET, ECB President Christine Lagarde will hold press conference in Frankfurt.

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