Economic Calendar

Monday, December 16

All day

In the week ahead, we will hear from the US Federal Reserve (Wednesday), Bank of England and Bank of Japan (both on Thursday) among others. Ahead of these central bank meetings, there are not many super important macro releases left until the new year. But watch these PMIs on Monday as they could influence major FX pairs and indices before the focus shifts to rate decisions.

What to watch: EUR, Germany 40

Wednesday, December 18

19:00 GMT

Last week’s US CPI figures showed no unexpected increases, offering traders the assurance they needed to reinforce expectations of a rate cut at the Federal Reserve’s final meeting of the year. A 25-basis-point cut is now almost fully priced in. This leaves the Fed with limited flexibility to diverge without causing substantial market disruption. The pressing question is whether the Fed will pause rate cuts in early 2025 or maintain the current pace of 25 basis points per meeting.

What to watch: USD, Gold

Thursday, December 19

12:00 GMT

Ahead of Thursday’s Bank of England rate decision, we will have already heard from the Fed and BoJ, both expected to have trimmed rates. Last week, the ECB delivered an expected 25 basis point cut while the SNB surprised with 50. The BoE is also expected to cut rates by 25 bp to 4.50%. Influencing the BoE’s decision, we have PMIs on Monday, UK wages and UK CPI on Wednesday.

What to watch: GBP, UK 100