The most important data affecting today's movements Today
financial markets have witnessed a range of pivotal events affecting currency and asset movements, ranging from economic data released in Europe and the United States, to expectations on monetary policy and geopolitical tensions.
European session: British inflation data exceeds expectations
The highlight of the European session was the release of British inflation data, where the Consumer Price Index (CPI) showed better performance than expected, reflecting a decrease in inflationary pressures.
These positive results may support the GBP, so it is expected that we will not see significant movements of the GBP and that it moves episodically tends to go up against most currencies.
US session: unemployment figures and the Fed meeting
During the US session, attention will be directed towards the release of weekly unemployment claims figures, which come early due to the Labor Day holiday.
Forecasts indicate a slight decrease in initial claims to 245 thousand compared to 248 thousand the previous week.
However, it is noted that claims tend to rise during the summer, and the recent increase in ongoing claims may reflect the difficulty of finding jobs under current economic conditions, and not necessarily an increase in layoffs.
But the most important event today will be the meeting of the Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC), where the Fed is expected to keep interest rates unchanged, while confirming the wait-and-see policy over the coming months.
The US central bank will also release a summary of economic forecasts, which is likely to confirm the forecast of two interest rate cuts during 2025, unless the economies experience unexpected surprises.
Geopolitical tensions: fears of a US-Iranian escalation
Along with economic factors, geopolitical tensions remain an influential factor in market movements, especially with the escalation of threats between the United States and Iran, Fears rose yesterday after the growing likelihood of direct US intervention in the Israeli-Iranian conflict, which raised a state of anticipation in the markets, although expectations of an attack during the Asian session did not materialize, but the coming hours may be decisive, which calls for caution by traders.
