| Time | Country | Event | Period | Previous value | Forecast | Actual |
|---|
| 00:30 | Australia | Building Permits, m/m | January | 9.8% | -3.5% | -27.9% |
| 00:30 | Australia | Trade Balance | January | 8.824 | 9.05 | 12.891 |
| 01:45 | China | Markit/Caixin Services PMI | February | 51.4 | | 50.2 |
| 05:00 | Japan | Consumer Confidence | February | 36.7 | | 35.3 |
| 07:30 | Switzerland | Consumer Price Index (MoM) | February | 0.2% | 0.3% | 0.7% |
| 07:30 | Switzerland | Consumer Price Index (YoY) | February | 1.6% | 1.8% | 2.2% |
During today's Asian trading, the US dollar rose slightly against major currencies, helped by yesterday's statements by Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell about the Central Bank's readiness to start raising interest rates.
The Fed is inclined to raise the rate by 25 basis points at the meeting on March 15-16, Powell said during a speech to the Financial Services Committee of the House of Representatives.
"If inflation increases or remains persistently high, then we will be ready to act more aggressively and raise the rate by more than 25 bps at one meeting or several," he said.
Noting the serious uncertainty regarding the consequences of the situation around Ukraine for the US economy, Powell said that the Fed's desire to raise the rate has not weakened, as the need to roll back coronavirus-era stimulus has not decreased. "It is important that we continue to act, but we will act cautiously, assessing the consequences of the war in Ukraine for the US economy," he said.
Fears that it is the eurozone that will suffer the greatest economic damage among developed countries due to the situation in Ukraine are putting pressure on the European currency.
"Many analysts expect the euro to fall below $1.1. The market may approach this point if the situation continues to deteriorate, and it may continue to deteriorate, however, if we see a resolution of the conflict, the euro may jump in tandem with the dollar," Jefferies experts said.
The ICE index, which tracks the dynamics of the dollar against six currencies (euro, swiss franc, yen, canadian dollar, pound sterling and swedish krona) rose by 0.14%.