Foreign exchange market. European session: the British pound traded higher against the U.S. dollar after the release of the U.K. GDP data

Economic calendar (GMT0):

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

00:30 Australia Export Price Index, q/q Quarter IV 0.0% -3.8% -5.4%

00:30 Australia Import Price Index, q/q Quarter IV 1.4% -0.8% -0.3%

09:30 United Kingdom GDP, q/q (Preliminary) Quarter IV 0.4% 0.5% 0.5%

09:30 United Kingdom GDP, y/y (Preliminary) Quarter IV 2.1% 1.9% 1.9%

10:00 Eurozone Economic sentiment index January 106.7 Revised From 106.8 106.4 105

10:00 Eurozone Business climate indicator January 0.39 Revised From 0.41 0.39 0.29

10:00 Eurozone Industrial confidence January -2 -2.4 -3.2

10:00 Eurozone Consumer Confidence (Finally) January -5.7 -6.3 -6.3

13:00 Germany CPI, m/m (Preliminary) January -0.1% -0.8% -0.8%

13:00 Germany CPI, y/y (Preliminary) January 0.3% 0.5% 0.5%

The U.S. dollar traded mixed against the most major currencies ahead of the release of the U.S. economic data. The number of initial jobless claims in the U.S. is expected to decline by 11,000 to 282,000 last week.

The U.S. durable goods orders are expected to decrease 0.6% in December, after a flat reading in November.

The U.S. durable goods orders excluding transportation are expected to fall 0.1% in December, after a 0.1% decline in November.

Pending home sales in the U.S. expected to decline 0.1% in December, after a 0.1% drop in November.

The Fed's interest rate decision weighed on the U.S. dollar. The Fed kept its interest rate unchanged at 0.25% - 0.50% on Wednesday as widely expected by analysts. But the Fed noted that it was "closely monitoring global economic and financial developments and is assessing their implications for the labour market and inflation, and for the balance of risks to the outlook". Market participants speculate that the Fed could delay its further interest rate hikes.

The euro traded higher against the U.S. dollar despite the release of the mixed economic data from the Eurozone. Destatis released its consumer price data for Germany on Thursday. German preliminary consumer price index decreased 0.8% in January, in line with expectations, after a 0.1% decrease in December.

On a yearly basis, German preliminary consumer price index rose to 0.5% in January from 0.3% in December, in line with expectations.

The European Commission released its economic sentiment index for the Eurozone on Thursday. The index slid to 105.0 in January from 106.7 in December. December's figure was revised down from 106.8.

Analysts had expected the index to decline to 106.4.

The drop was driven by a fall in confidence in industry and a decline in consumer confidence.

The industrial confidence index fell to -3.2 in January from -2.0 in December, missing expectations for a drop to -2.4.

The final consumer confidence index was down to -6.3 in January from -5.7 in December, in line with expectations.

The business climate index decreased to 0.29 in January from 0.39 in December. December's figure was revised down from 0.41. Analysts had expected the index to remain unchanged at 0.39.

The British pound traded higher against the U.S. dollar after the release of the U.K. GDP data. The Office for National Statistics released its U.K. GDP data on Tuesday. The preliminary U.K. gross domestic product (GDP) climbed 0.5% in the fourth quarter, in line with expectations, after a 0.4% rise in the third.

The growth was mainly driven by a strong output in the services sector, which climbed 0.7% in the fourth quarter.

Construction fell 0.1% in the fourth quarter, while production declined 0.2%.

On a yearly basis, the preliminary U.K. GDP increased 1.9% in the fourth quarter, in line with forecasts, after a 2.1% gain in the third quarter. It was the slowest pace since the first quarter of 2013.

In 2015 as whole, U.K. GDP rose 2.2%, after a 2.9% growth in 2014.

The Confederation of British Industry (CBI) released its retail sales balance data on Thursday. The CBI retail sales balance plunged to +16% in January from +19% in November.

EUR/USD: the currency pair rose to $1.0926

GBP/USD: the currency pair climbed to $1.4345

USD/JPY: the currency pair increased to Y118.93

The most important news that are expected (GMT0):

13:30 U.S. Initial Jobless Claims January 293 282

13:30 U.S. Durable Goods Orders December 0% -0.6%

13:30 U.S. Durable Goods Orders ex Transportation December -0.1% -0.1%

13:30 U.S. Durable goods orders ex defense November -1.5%

15:00 U.S. Pending Home Sales (MoM) December -0.9% 0.8%

21:45 New Zealand Building Permits, m/m December 1.8%

23:30 Japan Unemployment Rate December 3.3% 3.3%

23:30 Japan Tokyo Consumer Price Index, y/y January 0.0%

23:30 Japan Tokyo CPI ex Fresh Food, y/y January 0.1% 0.1%

23:30 Japan Household spending Y/Y December -2.9% -2.4%

23:30 Japan National Consumer Price Index, y/y December 0.3% 0.2%

23:30 Japan National CPI Ex-Fresh Food, y/y December 0.1% 0.1%