Foreign exchange market. European session: the British pound traded higher against the U.S. dollar despite the weak U.K. industrial production data

Economic calendar (GMT0):

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

00:00 China Bank holiday

07:45 France Industrial Production, m/m December -0.9% 0.2% -1.6%

07:45 France Industrial Production, y/y December 2.8% 2.0%

09:30 United Kingdom Industrial Production (MoM) December -0.8% Revised From -0.7% -0.1% -1.1%

09:30 United Kingdom Industrial Production (YoY) December 0.7% Revised From 0.9% 1% -0.4%

09:30 United Kingdom Manufacturing Production (MoM) December -0.3% Revised From -0.4% 0.1% -0.2%

09:30 United Kingdom Manufacturing Production (YoY) December -1.2% -1.4% -1.7%

12:00 U.S. MBA Mortgage Applications February -2.6% 9.3%

The U.S. dollar traded mixed against the most major currencies ahead of the Fed Chairwoman Janet Yellen's testimony before the House Financial Services Committee at 15:00 GMT. Market participants will closely monitor her speech for hints regarding further interest rate hikes. They speculate that it is unlikely that the Fed will raise its interest rate at its March monetary policy meeting.

The euro traded lower against the U.S. dollar after the release of the weak data from the Eurozone. The French statistical office Insee its industrial production figures on Wednesday. Industrial production in France declined 1.6% in December, missing expectations for a 0.2% increase, after a 0.9% fall in November. It was the biggest drop since May 2014.

Manufacturing output decreased 0.8% in December, while construction output slid 1.6%.

On a yearly basis, the French industrial production climbed 2.0% in December, after a 2.8% gain in November.

The Italian statistical office Istat released its industrial production data on Wednesday. Industrial production in Italy fell at a seasonally-adjusted rate of 0.7% in December, after a 0.5% decline in November.

On a yearly basis, industrial production in Italy slid at a seasonally-adjusted rate of 1.0% in December, after a 1.1% increase in November. November's figure was revised up from a 0.9% gain.

The British pound traded higher against the U.S. dollar despite the weak U.K. industrial production data. The Office for National Statistics (ONS) released its manufacturing industrial production figures for the U.K. on Wednesday. Manufacturing production in the U.K. fell 0.2% in December, missing expectations for a 0.1% gain, after a 0.3% decrease in November.

Manufacturing output was mainly driven by a drop in the manufacture of wood, paper products and printing, which plunged by 2.1% in December.

On a yearly basis, manufacturing production in the U.K. decreased 1.7% in December, missing forecast of a 1.4% fall, after a 1.2% drop in November.

Industrial production in the U.K. slid 1.1% in December, missing forecasts of a 0.1% fall, after a 0.8% rise in November. It was the biggest monthly drop since 2012.

The decline was driven by falls in mining, oil and gas extraction and manufacturing.

On a yearly basis, industrial production in the U.K. decreased 0.4% in December, missing expectations for a 1.0% rise, after a 0.7% increase in November.

EUR/USD: the currency pair fell to $1.1236

GBP/USD: the currency pair rose to $1.4577

USD/JPY: the currency pair increased to Y115.18

The most important news that are expected (GMT0):

15:00 United Kingdom NIESR GDP Estimate January 0.6%

15:00 U.S. Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen Testifies

15:30 U.S. Crude Oil Inventories February 7.792 3.6

19:00 U.S. Federal budget January -14 45

21:30 New Zealand Business NZ PMI January 56.7