A big night for announcements with the US again in focus.

In the early hours of tomorrow morning, the US is releasing a few crucial pieces of information that has the ability to move markets in a big way. The most crucial figure is the Non-Farm Employment Change. The US Fed Reserve looks at this figure closely when it meets to discuss interest rate policy. Although they do not rely on this figure alone, this employment figure is a crucial component in determining the strength of the jobs market and how a rise or drop in interest rates can affect it. This figure will be looked at with added scrutiny as this will be the first Non-Farm figures released since the central bank lifted rates in December. A bad figure will likely open up monetary policy makers to criticism. If the figure misses expectations by a wide margin, it has the potential to make markets nervous and make people wonder whether the central bank was correct with their interest rate decision in December.

Also out of the US, Average Hourly Earnings, Unemployment Rate, Trade Balance and Factory Orders data is all being released. The Average Hourly Earnings & Unemployment Rate go hand in hand with the Non-Farm data to present a broader picture of the labour market in the US. The Trade Balance data is important as it shows the difference in value between imported and exported goods, while the Factory Orders data helps us gauge the strength of the manufacturing industry, a much maligned but important sector of the US economy. FOMC (Fed Reserve) Member Charles Evans is also due to speak.

Elsewhere, Europe is releasing German & European Retail Sales, German Factory Orders and French Trade Balance data. Finally, Canada is releasing several pieces of data, including; Employment Change, Trade Balance, Unemployment Rate and lastly, Ivey PMI.