Foreign exchange market. European session: the British pound traded lower against the U.S. dollar after the release of the Bank of England's interest rate decision

Economic calendar (GMT0):

(Time/ Region/ Event/ Period/ Previous/ Forecast/ Actual)

00:00 Australia Consumer Inflation Expectation November 3.5% 4.0%

00:10 New Zealand RBNZ Governor Graeme Wheeler Speaks

00:30 Australia Unemployment rate November 5.9% 6% 5.8%

00:30 Australia Changing the number of employed November 56.1 Revised From 58.6 -10 71.4

07:45 France Industrial Production, m/m October 0.0% Revised From 0.1% -0.1% 0.5%

07:45 France Industrial Production, y/y October 0.7% 2.3%

07:45 France CPI, m/m December 0.1% 0% -0.2%

07:45 France CPI, y/y November 0.1% 0.0%

08:30 Switzerland SNB Interest Rate Decision -0.75% -0.75% -0.75%

08:30 Switzerland SNB Monetary Policy Assessment

08:30 Switzerland SNB Press Conference

09:30 United Kingdom Total Trade Balance October -1.07 Revised From -1.353 -4.14

12:00 United Kingdom Asset Purchase Facility 375 375 375

12:00 United Kingdom BoE Interest Rate Decision 0.5% 0.5% 0.5%

12:00 United Kingdom Bank of England Minutes

The U.S. dollar traded mixed against the most major currencies ahead the release of the U.S. economic data. The number of initial jobless claims in the U.S. is expected to remain unchanged at 269,000 last week.

The U.S. import price index is expected to decline 0.7% in November, after a 0.5% fall in October.

The euro traded lower against the U.S. dollar after the Swiss National Bank's (SNB) interest rate decision. The central bank kept the rates on sight deposits at minus 0.75% and said that the bank will remain active in the forex market if needed.

Meanwhile, the economic data from France was mixed. The French statistical office Insee its industrial production figures on Thursday. Industrial production in France rose 0.5% in October, beating expectations for a 0.1% decline, after a flat reading in September. September's figure was revised down from a 0.1% increase.

Manufacturing output fell 0.5% in October, while construction output climbed 0.5%.

Output in mining and quarrying, energy, water supply and waste management increased 5.1% in October.

On a yearly basis, the French industrial production climbed 2.3% in October, after a 0.7% gain in September.

The French consumer price inflation declined 0.2% in November, missing expectations for a flat reading, after a 0.1% rise in October.

On a yearly basis, the consumer price index was flat in November, after a 0.1% increase in October.

The British pound traded lower against the U.S. dollar after the release of the Bank of England's (BoE) interest rate decision. The BoE kept its interest rates unchanged at 0.5% and its asset purchase program unchanged at £375 billion. This decision was widely expected.

The Bank of England's Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) released its December meeting minutes today. 8 members voted to keep the central bank's monetary policy unchanged. Ian McCafferty voted to hike interest rate.

The Canadian dollar traded higher against the U.S. dollar ahead of the release of the Canadian economic data. Canada's new housing price index is expected to rise 0.1% in October, after a 0.1% gain in September.

The Canadian capacity utilization rate is expected to increase 81.9% in the third quarter from 81.3% in the second quarter.

The Swiss franc traded lower against the U.S. dollar after the Swiss National Bank's (SNB) interest rate decision. The central bank kept the rates on sight deposits at minus 0.75% and said that the bank will remain active in the forex market if needed.

The SNB noted that the Swiss franc is still significantly overvalued.

EUR/USD: the currency pair fell to $1.0933

GBP/USD: the currency pair declined to $1.5110

USD/JPY: the currency pair decreased to Y121.24

The most important news that are expected (GMT0):

13:30 Canada Capacity Utilization Rate Quarter III 81.3% 81.9%

13:30 Canada New Housing Price Index, MoM October 0.1% 0.1%

13:30 U.S. Import Price Index November -0.5% -0.7%

13:30 U.S. Initial Jobless Claims December 269 269

18:00 Eurozone ECB's Jens Weidmann Speaks

18:30 Canada BOC Gov Stephen Poloz Speaks

19:00 U.S. Federal budget November -136 -68

21:30 New Zealand Business NZ PMI November 53.3