What are the main events for today?

Today is going to be another boring day on the data front with just the US NFIB Small Business Optimism Index on the agenda. The report contains important data and gives a broad view on the economic conditions of small businesses in the United States which employ roughly 50% of private sector employees. It’s not a market moving release though.

14:00 GMT/10:00 ET – Fed Chair Powell (neutral – voter)

Fed Chair Powell will testify to the
Senate Banking Committee on Tuesday and the House Financial Services Committee
on Wednesday. The market participants will be attentive to any view or hint
about monetary policy after the recent NFP
report.

The text is generally released before
the testimony so that will be scanned for clues or “bias”,
but the market will also be focused on the Q&A session following the
opening remarks. Given the recent data, Powell will likely lean on the dovish
side but a rate cut in July should be out of the equation.

Click here to read about his most recent comments.

Central bank speakers:

• 08:00 GMT – ECB’s Panetta (dove – voter)
• 09:00 GMT – ECB’s Cipollone (dove – voter)
• 13:15 GMT/09:15 ET – Fed’s Barr (dove – voter)
• 14:00 GMT/10:00 ET – Fed Chair Powell (neutral – voter)
• 17:30 GMT/13:30 ET – Fed’s Bowman (hawk – voter)

This article was written by Giuseppe Dellamotta at www.forexlive.com.