The focus this week can be expected to fall mainly on the U.S. Dollar, the British Pound, the Swiss Franc, and the Japanese Yen as significant statements by the respective monetary authorities responsible for each will be forthcoming. The Euro is also in focus as it continues to fall strongly, and it is from that direction that any surprise announcement would be most likely to arrive.

U.S. Dollar

It is going to be a big week for the U.S. Dollar with the major focus on Wednesday’s FOMC Statement, Economic Projections, Press Conference and Federal Funds Rate data. With the USD at the center of the market, any change in approach shown here is likely to have a strong effect and the market will be watching eagerly. There will also be hard data on Tuesday with Building Permits numbers, and later on Thursday with Unemployment Claims and the Philly Fed Manufacturing Index.

British Pound

It is expected to be a meaningful week for the British Pound, but it will all happen in one day. Wednesday is the key day, with the release of the Annual U.K. Budget along with details of the Average Earnings Index, the Claimant Count Change, and the MPC Official Bank Rate Votes.

Euro

This week’s focus for the Euro falls mainly on Thursday and Friday with the EU Economic Summit. Thursday will see the release of Targeted LTRO data. Tuesday will see the release of German ZEW Economic Sentiment data, and the President of the ECB will be speaking at a minor conference on Monday.

Swiss Franc

On Thursday the Swiss National Bank will be releasing its Libor rate and a Monetary Policy Assessment, accompanied by a Press Conference.

Japanese Yen

On Tuesday the Bank of Japan will be releasing a new Monetary Policy Statement.

Australian Dollar

On Tuesday the minutes of the most recent Reserve Bank of Australia’s Monetary Policy Meeting will be released. On Friday, the Governor of the Bank will be speaking at a minor event.

Canadian Dollar

The Canadian Dollar is due a couple of hard data items: a release of Manufacturing Sales data on Tuesday, followed by Core CPI and Core Retail Sales on Friday.

New Zealand Dollar

There will also be only two hard data items concerning the currency this week: the GDT Price Index on Tuesday and Quarterly GDP on Wednesday.