American FX Outlook: Canadian inflation and Fed speaker headline

What you need to know before markets open

• Comment from the Bank of England Governor Mark Carney about Brexit related uncertainty possibly delaying rate hikes caused further selling pressure on Sterling.
• The Bank of England hawkish MPC member Michael Saunders did not save the day for Sterling saying “the UK rates probably need to move over time to something more neutral, but not too quickly.”
• Bundesbank's Jens Weidmann is speaking at IMF forum in the afternoon in London.
• Canada’s retail sales and CPI headline the North American session.

Friday’s market moving events

• German Bundesbank President Jens Weidmann is scheduled to speak at the press conference at the International Monetary Fund's Spring Meeting, in Washington DC at 11:30 GMT
• Canada’s CPI is expected to accelerate to 2.4% y/y in March with core CPI rising 1.4% y/y.
• Canada’s retail sales are seen rising 0.3% m/m in March.
• Chicago Federal Reserve Bank President Charles Evans is due to speak about current economic conditions and monetary policy at the Graaskamp Center Conference in Chicago at 13:40 GMT.
• European Commission’s economic confidence indicator is expected to fall to -0.2 in April, tracking the slowdown of most of the forward-looking indicators.
• San Francisco Federal Reserve Bank President John Williams is scheduled to participate in a Fireside chat at the University of California Berkeley-Fischer Center for Real Estate and Urban Economies in Pebble Beach, California at 15:15 GMT.

Major market movers

• Sterling is trading down 0.3% at around 1.4050 against the US Dollar as comments from hawkish Bank of England Monetary Policy Committee member Michael Saunders did not support the currency pair enough to leap off 2-week lows. Michael Saunders said, “the UK rates probably need to move over time to something more neutral, but not too quickly.”
• Watch CAD moving on CPI and retail sales data.

Earlier in Asia/Europe

• German PPI increased 0.1% m/m in March while rising 1.9% y/y.
• The Bank of England Monetary Policy Committee member Michael Saunders (voting in favor of rate hike in March) said the UK no longer needs as much stimulus as before, due to little economic and slack and rising cost pressures.