Valuable British Economic Events
The world of investing in general, and of binary options trading in particular, is an exciting place of breaking news and fast-paced decisions that can create major trading opportunities and affect the markets significantly within a matter of minutes. Besides keeping an eye out for current events and headlines, the successful trader also monitors the release of various financial reports regarding interest rates, production, earnings, employment, GDP, housing, manufacturing and management from around the world. Below you can find the most important economic events that affect the economy of the U.K. and any assets related to it.
Official Bank Rate: Interest rates are the most important aspect for determining the value of a currency and the official bank rate, in particular, quotes the rate at which the Bank of England lends money to other banks. This rate is always priced in the current conditions of the market and responds to the needs of the currency. When the interest changes, the Monetary Policy Committee also reports on it.
MPC Official Bank Rate Votes: The Monetary Policy Committee votes on the Official Bank Rate every month and the results of the voting session become available to the public 13 days after the announcement of the official bank rate. The results are given as three numbers “X-X-X,” with the first number indicating how many members voted for an increase in interest rates, the second how many members voted for a decrease, and the third how many members voted to keep rates at the same level. Unlike the official interest rate that deals with the current market, the detailed report of the voting procedure provides insights on how interest-rate stance may change in the near future and helps investors predict how close the committee is to deciding on changed interest rates.
Manufacturing Production: This monthly report, which comes out about 40 days after the end of the month, records the changes in the manufacturing production. With the U.K.’s industrial production consisting 80 percent in manufacturing, this report tends to have a significant effect on the market and it is considered one of the main indicators of economic health.
Manufacturing PMI: The Manufacturing Purchasing Managers Index asks about 600 purchasing managers to rate their level of business relative to current economic conditions. Results above 50 signify an expanding industry, while results below 50 signify a contracting one. An important thing to note about this report is that Thomson Reuters subscribers receive the data 2 minutes before the public release and early market reaction can be attributed to these subscribers.
Claimant Count Change: Unemployment data are released in this report just 15 days after the end of the month, showing the number of people that claimed benefits from the unemployment office during the last month. Released a month prior to the official Unemployment Rate, the report is an early sign of job market health and economic stability.
Unemployment Rate: The Office for National Statistics releases the Unemployment Rate numbers every month, 45 days after the month’s end, and includes figures from the last 3 months. Although this indicators lags behind the Claimant Count Change, it still makes for a good indicator of economic health and alerts traders to possible changes in monetary policy.