| Time | Country | Event | Period | Previous value | Forecast | Actual |
|---|
| 07:00 | Germany | Factory Orders s.a. (MoM) | November | -5.8% | 2.1% | 3.7% |
| 09:30 | United Kingdom | Purchasing Manager Index Services | December | 58.5 | 53.2 | 53.6 |
| 10:00 | Eurozone | Producer Price Index, MoM | November | 5.4% | 1.2% | 1.8% |
| 10:00 | Eurozone | Producer Price Index (YoY) | November | 21.9% | 22.9% | 23.7% |
USD appreciated against most of its major counterparts in the European session on Thursday, as investors continued to digest the minutes of the December meeting of the Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC), which were released on Wednesday afternoon and hinted at a more aggressive stance on policy normalization.
The U.S. Dollar Index (DXY), measuring the U.S. currency's value relative to a basket of foreign currencies, rose 0.02% to 96.19.
The minutes revealed that almost all participants of the FOMC’s December gathering agreed that the appropriate pace of the Fed’s balance sheet runoff would likely be quicker than it was during the previous normalization period. The U.S. central bank’s policymakers also judged that the commencement of the reduction of the size of the balance sheet would likely be at some point after the first rate hike.
In addition, the officials noted that given their stronger outlook for the U.S. economy, labor market, and price pressures, it might become reasonable to increase interest rates sooner or at a faster pace than earlier planned.
The latest FOMC minutes heightened rate-hike expectations. According to the CME FedWatch Tool, the probability of a rate increase in March rose to 71.4% compared to 56.5% one week before and 32.5% a month ago.
Coronavirus concerns also supported demand for safe-havens. The COVID-19 cases across the U.S. continue to set records.