North America Trading Outlook for the week of March 5, 2017

The coming week comes in between last week’s big speeches and next week’s Ides of March but there could still be a number of trading opportunities. Speculation on a March Fed rate hike may continue to drive action in currency markets. Fed Chair Yellen has indicated a rate hike may be under consideration this months, but Minneapolis Fed President Kashkari gets in the last word Monday before the pre-meeting blackout. Traders may also look to ADP (Wed) and nonfarm (Fri) payrolls for indications of whether data continues to support a rate hike. Colin Cieszynski and Michael Hewson will be holding their usual nonfarm payrolls webinar at 8:15 am EST on Friday March 10th. Register at https://www.cmcmarkets.com/en/learn/events/non-farm-payrolls-live-coverage100317 There is also more Asia Pacific news focused on Australia early in the week (retail sales Sun, RBA Monday night), then shifting to China for trade and inflation later in the week. In Europe, GBP may remain active as the Brexit bill moves through Parliament, meanwhile election polls and other political developments on the Continent may continue to keep EUR active. It’s a quieter week for Canada with the main event being trade on Tuesday and employment on Friday. Bank earnings are done. Economic news: Sunday night Australia inflation, retail sales Monday FOMC Kashkari Monday night Australia RBA (no change expected) Tuesday US and Canada trade balance Tuesday night China trade balance Wednesday US ADP payrolls Wednesday night China inflation Thursday ECB meeting (no changes expected) Friday US nonfarm payrolls, Canada employment There are no major earnings reports in the US or Canada this week. We may also see traders preparing for the Ides of March which could be a mega huge day for trading (Wed March 15th) Wed March 15th US FOMC interest rate decision (0.25% increase expected) US debt ceiling deal between Republicans and Democrats expires after 18 months Netherlands election UK could trigger EU Article 50 and Brexit Bank of Japan meeting (no changes expected)