3 Numbers to Watch: Canada rates, EZ Confidence & UK Home Loans

The focus today will be on Canada, where the central bank is due to vote on interest rates, and while the Bank of Canada has not altered its policy in the the last two years, investors will be reading closely the central bank's statement for signs it will drop its hawkish rhetoric in favour of a more accomodative stance in the future. We also take a look at the European Commission's index for consumer confidence in the Eurozone and the British Bankers' Association measure of home loans issued in the UK. 

Bank of Canada rate decision (13:00 GMT) USDCAD has experienced significant volatility ahead of the Bank of Canada's interest rate announcement with the loonie trading at 1.0081 late last night in Europe. The Canadian central bank is widely expected to keep interest rates unchanged at one percent. The big question will be what the central bank has to say about raising rates in the future and whether it will drop its wording that "some modest withdrawal" of the present accomodative stance "may become appropriate". There are growing fears in Ottawa that Canada's economy is slowing as a result of the eurozone debt crisis, which has negatively impacted Canada's export sector. The economy grew by just 0.5 percent in the second quarter of 2012, compared to 0.9 percent in the same quarter last year. 

Eurozone consumer confidence (14:00 GMT) Consumer confidence in the Eurozone is expected to be little changed when the European Commission releases its latest estimates for its index today. Analysts forecast the indicator to come in at -25.8 for October. In September, the flash estimate of the consumer confidence indicator for the Eurozone declined to -25.9 from -24.6. The recent data suggests that consumers are still cautious about spending, despite the European Central Bank's pledge to do everything in its power to prevent a collapse of the single currency. However, it is rather difficult to anticipate the results of surveys as widespead as this one, so we could be in for a surprise.

BBA Loans for House Purchases (08:00 GMT) The number of loans approved for UK house purchases is exected to grow modestly in September, although lending is likely to remain relatively weak for the month. Analysts forecast that 30,840 mortgages were issued in September compared to 30,533 in October. However, this is still well below the rate this time last year when around 35,000 loans were issued a month. Despite the government's Funding for Lending programme, which it launched this year to boost lending to households, UK consumers continue to take a cautious approach to debt, with demand for home loans and unsecured credit remaining low.

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