There are quite a few announcements coming out today, with the US and Europe leading the way.

Out of the US later today and into tomorrow morning, there are are number of announcements. These include the Philly Fed Manufacturing Index, Unemployment Claims, Existing Home Sales and the CB (Conference Board) Leading Index. The Philly Fed Index is important as it is a reflection of the health of the manufacturing sector. Unemployment Claims gives us an indication of the strength of the US labour market. Existing Home Sales shows us how well the real estate industry is performing, which is particularly important given these weak and unstable economic times. The CB Leading Index is a composite index reflecting general economic conditions within the world’s leading economy.

Looking towards Europe, they also have a swathe of data set to released later today. Headlining the announcements is the Minimum Bid Rate. Also being released is the German PPI (Producer Price Index) and European Current Account. There is also an EU Economic Summit being conducted and and ECB (European Central Bank Press Conference. The Minimum Bid Rate is important as it is basically the ECB’s interest rate for the continent, exactly the same as the Fed Reserve for the US. Rates are expected to remain unchanged. PPI is of interest as it indicates the change in prices of goods sold by manufacturers. Current Account is the monetary difference between imported and exported goods throughout the continent.

Elsewhere, Australia is releasing its Employment Change and Unemployment rate. This reflects the general strength of the labour market in Australia. The UK are also releasing Retail Sales data. This reflects the relative performance of the retail sector and consumer spending.