| Time | Country | Event | Period | Previous value | Forecast | Actual |
|---|
| 07:00 | United Kingdom | Retail Sales (YoY) | January | -1.7% | 8.7% | 9.1% |
| 07:00 | United Kingdom | Retail Sales (MoM) | January | -4% | 1% | 1.9% |
| 07:30 | Switzerland | Industrial Production (YoY) | Quarter IV | 8.5% | | 7.3% |
| 07:45 | France | CPI, y/y | January | 2.8% | 2.9% | 2.9% |
| 07:45 | France | CPI, m/m | January | 0.2% | 0.3% | 0.3% |
During today's Asian trading, the US dollar consolidated against major currencies, after a slight increase yesterday.
The ICE index, which tracks the dynamics of the dollar against six currencies (euro, swiss franc, yen, canadian dollar, pound sterling and swedish krona) decreased by 0.04% after yesterday's increase by 0.10%.
Experts note that Asian currencies consolidated during morning trading, but may begin to decline relative to defensive assets, including the US dollar, amid tensions between Russia and Ukraine.
The escalation of the conflict reminded the markets of the risks of economic shocks and global inflationary pressure at a time when investors are still trying to get used to the idea of an imminent increase in Federal Reserve rates. If the situation does not resolve in the near future, uncertainty will be enough to force market participants to abandon risky assets and search for a "safe haven".
The pound rose slightly against the US dollar on the background of UK data. Data published by the Office for National Statistics (ONS) showed that retail sales increased by 1.9% in January, partially offsetting the December drop by 4% (revised from -3.7%). Economists had expected an increase by 1.0%. Given the latest change, sales exceeded the level of February 2020 (before the outbreak of the pandemic) by 3.6%. Meanwhile, in annual terms, retail sales increased by 9.1% after a decline by 1.7% in December (revised from -0.9%). Consensus estimates suggested an increase by 8.7%.