Big Wednesday on the economic and central banker calendar for the US

7am ET 1200GMT

Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA) Mortgage Applications

  • prior +2.3%

At 8:30am ET 1230GMT

Retail sales (advance reading) January

  • expected 0.1% m/m, prior 0.6%
  • Also watch the ex-Autos figure (exp +0.4%, prior +0.2%)
  • & and the ex-Autos and Gas (expected +0.3%, prior flat at 0.0% m/m change)

Also 8:30am

Consumer Price Index (CPI) January

  • expected 0.3% m/m, prior 0.3%
  • Core, expected 0.2% m/m, prior 0.2%
  • Prices have been slowly edging higher

Also 8:30am

New York Federal Reserve Empire State Manufacturing Survey for February

  • expected 7.0, prior 6.5
  • An indicator that has been showing a pick up in manufacturing. January's result was the third straight increase

9:15am 1415GMT

Federal Reserve releases Industrial Production & Capacity Utilization, January

  • For IP, expected 0.0% (i.e. no change), prior +0.8%
  • The manufacturing component of this indicator has not been strong (autos excluded)
  • Capacity utilization (that's how that lot spell it, right?), expected 75.4%, prior 75.5%

10am 1500GMT

Testimony by Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen

Semi-annual Monetary Policy Report, part 2. This time to the House of Reps committee

Also 10am, NAHB homebuilder survey for February and the Business inventories report for December

10:30am ET, for the oil traders, Energy Information Administration (EIA) weekly information on inventories

1pm ET 1800GMT

Philadelphia Federal Reserve President Patrick Harker speaking (on the economy)

  • Audience Q&A
  • Media Q&A both to follow

1.10pm ET 1810GMT

Boston Federal Reserve President Eric Rosengren speaking to the NY Association for Business Economics

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And, as a ps.

NY Fed President William Dudley is speaking at 7.15pm ET (0015GMT on Thursday 16 February 2017)