FxWirePro: 20th February Key updates

Here are some key updates that as a trader you need to keep a tab on.

Brexit and UK politics:

• UK’s Prime Minister Theresa May said that her government is seeking legally binding changes to Irish backstop that would address the concerns of the parliamentary members.  
• The newly formed independent group is growing as several Conservative Party members have joined hands with defecting Labour Party members by resigning.  The size of the Independent group has now reached 11 members, which means that soon this group would be in a commanding position as Theresa May’s government continues to operate as a minority government.
• UK’s foreign secretary Jeremy Hunt remains confident over Brexit and according to him, if few changes to backstop can be made, a deal can go through the UK parliament.
   

Weakness in the German economy:

• German central bank, better known as the Bundesbank warned that though there is no sign that the current slowdown is morphing into a downturn, the weakness in the economy likely to persist at least in the first half of the year 2019.
• IMF’s chief Lagarde became the high profile persona to warn against economic weakness in Germany and added that the institution would revise its forecast for growth lower in its upcoming publication after it has already lowered the growth forecast to just 1. 3 percent in its January report.

U.S.- EU trade war:

• As the U.S. Commerce Secretary submitted national security review of car imports to the United States, the EU has warned the United States against imposing tariffs on car imports as it would act swiftly if such happens. President Trump has 90 days to respond to the report.
• Speculation is going wild that President Trump would slap as high as 25 percent tariffs on imported cars from Germany worth €22 billion.

Sino-American trade war:

• After reports came out that American trade negotiators are looking for assurance that China would not manipulate its currency to benefit in trade, Chinese Premier Li Keqiang announced that China will not use currency as a tool in the trade dispute.
• However, at the same time, he announced that China would continue to pursue its current prudent monetary policy, which basically means that much will not get changed in this front.

German inflation was strong,

• PPI inflation at +0.4 percent m/m in January vs. -0.1 percent m/m. Prior -0.4 percent.
• PPI inflation at +2.6 percent y/y in January vs. +2.2 percent y/y. Prior +2.7 percent.