• Foreign exchange market. European session: the U.S. dollar traded higher against the most major currencies, supported by comments by Philadelphia Fed President Patrick Harker

Market news

23 March 2016

Foreign exchange market. European session: the U.S. dollar traded higher against the most major currencies, supported by comments by Philadelphia Fed President Patrick Harker

Economic calendar (GMT0):

(Time/ Region/ Event/ Period/ Previous/ Forecast/ Actual)

10:00 Switzerland Credit Suisse ZEW Survey (Expectations) March -5.9 2.5

11:00 U.S. MBA Mortgage Applications March -3.3% -3.3%

The U.S. dollar traded higher against the most major currencies ahead the release of the new home sales data. New home sales in the U.S. are expected to rise to 510,000 units in February from 494,000 units in January.

The greenback was supported by comments by Philadelphia Fed President Patrick Harker. He said on Tuesday that the Fed should hike its interest rate in April if the U.S. economy continues to improve. Harker pointed out that he would like to see more than two interest rate hikes this year, adding that the monetary policy would remain accommodative.

The euro traded lower against the U.S. dollar in the absence of any major economic reports from the Eurozone.

Reuters reported on Tuesday that according to a draft of Germany's Finance Ministry, the government plans to raise its spending by €30.9 billion to €347.8 billion by 2020, while the budget should remain balanced.

The British pound traded lower against the U.S. dollar in the absence of any major economic reports from the U.K. Concerns over the possible Britain's exit from the European Union (EU) continued to weigh on the pound.

The Swiss franc traded mixed against the U.S. dollar. A survey by the ZEW Institute and Credit Suisse Group showed on Wednesday that Switzerland's economic sentiment index climbed to 2.5 in March from -5.9 in February.

EUR/USD: the currency pair fell to $1.1162

GBP/USD: the currency pair declined to $1.4132

USD/JPY: the currency pair rose to Y112.88

The most important news that are expected (GMT0):

14:00 Belgium Business Climate March -6.6 -6

14:00 Switzerland SNB Quarterly Bulletin

14:00 U.S. New Home Sales February 494 510

14:30 U.S. Crude Oil Inventories March 1.317 3.5

21:45 New Zealand Trade Balance, mln February 8 50

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