The Forex markets have been very demanding of Economic statistics over the last few days. The view seems to be that unless they absolutely confirm that the Federal Reserve must raise rates at the end of the month then they mean that they definitely will not. Well, as we know from many years experience, that is not always the case. The fact that yesterdays CPI data in the US came in as expected does not mean that the Federal Reserve only look at a headline CPI statistic to make their decision. Taken as a whole the trend of all data over the last 3 months is pointing to an interest rate hike. Expect the US Dollar to regain a little bit of lost ground today as positions are pared ahead of the weekend. FX markets will be particularly thin immediately after the release of US Industrial Production at 14.15 GMT due to the parades and semi-holiday in New York for St. Patrick’s Day. US Dollar gains are likely to be small, but if somebody wanted to play silly-billies in a thin market and take out stops at key levels with comparatively little size, this afternoon’s currency markets would be an ideal time to do it. “Let’s be careful out there.” A lot of the attention is being directed towards rising stock markets, being buoyed by some hefty mergers and acquisition activity.