A busier day for markets as far as announcements are concerned, with Australia in focus, while Europe is set to release a few pieces of data.

A big day for the local Australian market as its central bank meets to decide its Cash Rate. There has been talk that the RBA will leave interest rates on hold. This train of thought has gained momentum as the likely-hood of a US rate rise in March gets stronger. A rise in interest rates in the US will strengthen the US dollar against the AUD, therefore making Australia more attractive for investors. This then produces a ‘stimulus’ effect as more foreign money pours into Australia, therefore boosting its economy. Mixed economic data from Australia may have central bankers pondering another rate cut, but the strong GDP data released last week (1.1% actual vs 0.7% forecast) might just be enough to hold off such a thought. What will be of importance is the language that the RBA uses in delivering this announcement. This will give an indication to the direction of future monetary policy movements.

Europe is releasing a few pieces of data tonight. This data includes: German Factory Orders, French Government Budget Balance, Swiss Foreign Currency Reserves and European Revised GDP. The German Factory Orders data appears to be the most important in this list. As Europe’s largest economy and one that is built on manufacturing, it is vital that this figure remains strong. This will not only indicate a strong German economy, but it can also represent strengthening demand for German made products from other European nations.

Elsewhere around the world, Japan is publishing its BOJ Core CPI, the UK is reporting its Halifax HPI, Canada is releasing Trade Balance and Ivey PMI figures while the US is announcing Trade Balance, IBD/TIPP Economic Optimism and Consumer Credit data.