Summary:

• Jerome Powell is going to testify in Congress today as his nomination for a Fed chair has to be confirmed by lawmakers
• The Conference Board Consumer Confidence index is the key release today
• API report on estimated changes in oil inventories should warm u investors ahead of OPEC meeting

Tuesday’s calendar is full of interesting market events. One of the most important should be confirmation hearing of Fed chair nominee Jerome Powell in the US Congress. Moreover, investors will pay attention to results of Conference Board Consumer Confidence index and API report on changes in oil inventories as we are getting closer to long-awaited OPEC meeting.

12 pm BST – Germany, GfK Consumer Confidence for December. The European economy has been doing well of late, which has propped up business sentiment as well as improved moods of consumers. The index has settled at relatively high and it’s expected to remain there for long. The street consensus calls for an increase to 10.8 from 10.7 pts.

1:30 pm BST – US, goods trade balance and wholesale inventories for October. Despite protectionistic rhetoric from the President Donald Trump the US trade deficit hasn’t narrowed significantly and it seems that the situation is not going to change soon. Wholesales inventories could influence projections of GDP growth for the fourth quarter. The trade deficit is seen widening to 65bn USD from 64.1bn USD, whilst wholesales inventories should maintain the pace of growth of 0.3% m/m.

2:45 pm BST – US, confirmation hearing for Federal Reserve chair nominee Jerome Powell. Powell is seen as a continuation of Janet Yellen’s policy, as he favors gradual interest-rate increases. However, he bearly comments on monetary policy issues and this could be a good chance to hear more from him on that topic. Moreover, Powell sympathises with White House calls to ease financial regulations.

3:00 pm BST – US, Conference Board Consumer Confidence Index for December. Good shape of labour market favours better moods of consumers. However, it hasn’t translated yet into higher retail sales as the wage pressure has remained subdued. Still better results of the indx should help the US dollar to some extent. Consensus calls for a slight decrease to 124 from 125.9 pts.

3:30 pm BST – US, report on financial stability. BoC hiked rates twice this year and further concerns over household excessive debt and housing market may signals that the tightening cycle has not ended yet. Thus, the publication could impact CAD.

9:35 pm BST – US, the API report on oil prices. Oil has managed to stick to relatively high levels waiting for the OPEC meeting scheduled for the end of November, thus the US inventory data have been set aside. However, it’s still worth looking at this numbers and the today’s report will set expectations before the DoE data on Wednesday.

President Donald Trump is expected to go to Capitol Hill on Tuesday to have lunch with Republican senators before meeting with the top congressional leaders from both parties in the afternoon. Some Senators have openly criticised the reform so the meeting could lead to some turning point.

 EURUSD has halted its rally, however, a test of the nearest support could eventually lead to rebound. Source: xStation5