A fairly subdued day for announcements as far as a Wednesday goes, with the release of the Fed meeting minutes in the early hours of tomorrow morning the most significant event.

The Euro strengthened against the USD overnight as tensions eased over the Catalonia independence referendum. The Euro also strengthened after comments made by Sabine Lautenschlaeger, an ECB executive board member, calling for the ECB to roll back asset purchases in 2018. The EUR/USD pairing shot back up into the $1.18 region, currently trading at $1.1808. The GBP/USD remains little changed, trading at $1.3201.

US stocks all ended the session higher overnight, with the Dow closing at another record high, on the back of company announcements. The Dow closed at 22,830.68, up 69.61 points (+0.31%) and was the best performer. The S&P 500 closed at 2,550.64, up 5.91 points (+0.23%), while the NASDAQ ended the session at 6,587.25, up 7.52 points (+0.11%). European stocks were again a mixed bag, the FTSE adding 30.38 points (+0.40%) to 7,538.27 while the DAX headed in the other direction, shaving 27.15 points (-0.21%) to 12,949.25.

Gold continued its revival, up at least another $5 from yesterday, where it is currently trading at $1,291.30. Oil has once again ticked up over $50 a barrel, threatening to hit $51 in what was a 2.74% gain overnight. Oil is currently at $50.88, edging back from its $50.92 high.

Turning to today’s events, the most significant information to be published is the minutes from the last US Fed Reserve meeting. This will take place in the early hours of tomorrow morning. These minutes are significant as they give a more detailed account of the Fed’s outlook for the US economy and monetary policy settings in the future. Other announcements today include:

Australia – Westpac Consumer Sentiment

Japan – Core Machinery Orders, Prelim Machine Tool Orders

US – JOLTS Job Openings, Fed Reserve Member Robert Kaplan speaks