Guide to today’s important data and events

Lots of economic dockets scheduled for today and some with high risks associated.

Data released so far 

• Australia – Unemployment rate ticked down sharply to 5.8%. Participation edged down to 64.9% from 65.1% prior. Fulltime employment rose by 15,900, while part time jobs dropped by 15,600.
• China – FDI rose by 1.8% from a year ago in February, compared to 2.7% rise in January.

Upcoming –  

• Switzerland – SECO will release economic forecasts at 6:45 GMT, producer price index will be released at 8:15 GMT and Swiss National Bank (SNB) will announce monetary policy decision at 8:30 GMT.
• Italy – Trade balance for January will be released at 9:00 GMT.
• Euro Zone – Trade balance for January and consumer prices for February will be released at 10:00 GMT.
• Portugal – Current account for January will be released today.
• India – RBI will announce balance of payment statistics for fourth quarter at 11:30 GMT.
• UK – Bank of England (BOE) will announce monetary policy decision at 12:00 GMT.
• US – Current account for fourth quarter will be released at 12:30 GMT, along with weekly jobless claims report and Philadelphia FED manufacturing survey. EIA will release weekly natural gas inventory report at 14:30 GMT.
• Canada – Wholesale sales for January will be released at 12:30 GMT.
• Auctions – Spain will auction 10 year bond today.