RBNZ Monetary Policy Tuesday [Video]

Chinese market holidays are over, so trading could pick up pace in Asia on this otherwise relatively light Tuesday. Preliminary Japanese Machine Tool Orders for January open this agenda at 6 o'clock in the morning. The total value of machine tool orders in December was slightly more than 135 billion yen. This was the first monthly increase in three months, but orders were more than 18 percent down from a year ago level. Then the Sterling traders will be monitoring closely a speech by the Bank of England Governor Mark Carney in London at 1 PM GMT. Australian Consumer Sentiment for February continues the data run at 11:30 PM GMT. Sentiment dropped by close to five percent in January to hit the lowest level in more than a year. This took index below the 100-point level, meaning pessimists outnumbered optimists. A couple of potential Kiwi Dollar movers wrap up this agenda. First, the high importance Reserve Bank of New Zealand Monetary Policy Statement will take place at 1 AM GMT, followed by the press conference at 2 PM. The Cash Rate has stood unchanged at 1.75 percent since late 2016, when it was slashed by 25 basis points. The high importance quarterly New Zealand Inflation Expectations Survey wraps up this agenda at 2 AM. According to the RBNZ, Inflation expectations for one year ahead increased from 1.86 percent to slightly more than 2 percent.