Today shapes up as a big one for markets, with a plethora of information set for release from around the world.

The EUR/USD pair remained in the high $1.17 range, seemingly immune to any of the central bank speakers that spoke last night. If there are further movements in the US or Euro, it won’t be data-related, as there is not anything significant enough being released that would cause any fluctuations. The pair is currently trading at $1.1793.

Well, the Dow went off to the races overnight, smashing back through and closing well into the 23,000 level. It ended the session at 23,157.60, up 160.16 points (+0.70%) on the back of strong company earnings results. The S&P 500 and NASDAQ both remained quite flat, up 1.90 points (+0.07%) to 2,561.26 and 0.56 points (+0.01%) to 6,624.22 respectively. European stocks were up across the board, the DAX closing above 13,000, adding 47.97 points (+0.37%) to close at 13,043.03, while the FTSE added 26.70 points (+0.36%), ending the session at 7,542.87.

Gold continues to be friendless as investors look to the higher returns of equities. The dollar dipped a few dollars since this time yesterday, currently trading at $1,282.40, down from $1,288.20 from 24 hours earlier.

Turning to today’s events and most of the focus is on China. Not only are they releasing vital GDP and Industrial Production data, they are currently in the middle of their Communist Party Congress in which the government outlines its economic goals for the next five years. This could have a big impact on markets. Looking locally and Australia is publishing significant Employment Change and Unemployment Rate data. Other data to be released today includes:

Australia – NAB Quarterly Business Confidence, RBA Assist Governor Michele Bullock speaks

UK – Retail Sales

Europe – Swiss Trade Balance

Japan – All Industries Activity

China – Fixed Asset Investment, Retail Sales, NBS Press Conference

US – Unemployment Claims, Philly Fed Manufacturing Index, CB Leading Index, Natural Gas Storage