Brexit hogged the limelight on Wednesday as British PM May faced a vote of no-confidence. Although there was a surprise in the decision, this was widely speculated. The sterling initially slipped on the news only to recover strongly later towards the evening.
The outcome of the no-confidence vote was that the PM May managed to hold her ground with 200 votes in her favor and 117 against her. However, uncertainties remain on the final Brexit deal which is yet to be approved by the UK parliament.
Industrial production in the Eurozone rose 0.2% matching estimates. This followed a revised 0.6% decline from the month before. The U.S. headline inflation was flat for November, as per estimates. This followed a 0.3% increase the month back. The core inflation rate was also up 0.2% as per estimates, and the increase was the same pace as seen in the previous month.
Investors look to a busy day in the markets amid a line up of central bank meetings. The day starts with the final inflation figures from Germany and France. Consumer prices in Germany are forecast to rise 0.1% on the month while French CPI is expected to fall 0.2%.
The Swiss national bank will be holding its monetary policy meeting today. No changes are expected as the labor rate is forecast to remain unchanged at -075%. This SNB’s meeting is followed by the European central bank’s monetary policy meeting.
The ECB is all set to announce an end to its QE program at today’s meeting. However, there could be a cautious tone to the ECB’s forward guidance. President Mario Draghi will be speaking later in the day.
The NY trading session will see the U.S. import price data. Import prices are forecast to fall 1.0% in November.
