It is shaping up to be a busy week for markets, with plenty of information emanating from around the world.

The USD strengthened during the previous trading session on Friday, as the US Senate cleared the path for the Trump administration to implement its tax reform agenda. The EUR/USD pair is currently at $1.1769, down from the $1.1848 level that it was trading at this time last Friday. The stronger USD also ensured the GBP/USD pair dropped as well. It is currently at $1.3186.

US stocks continued its march upwards, with markets reacting positively to the tax reform news. After only three days after hitting 23,000, the Dow already looks firmly entrenched in that range, after adding another 165.59 points (+0.71%) to close at 23,328.63. The S&P 500 performed strongly, adding 13.11 points (+0.51%) to end the session at 2,575.21. The NASDAQ ended the session with a solid gain of 23.99 points (+0.36%) to close at 6,629.05. Major European stocks ended the session flat, the DAX and FTSE adding 1.18 points (+0.01%) and 0.19 points (+0.001%) respectively. The DAX closed at 12,991.28 while the FTSE closed at 7,523.23.

Gold has again turned into the ugly duckling, as investors flock to equities as the result of the news on tax reform. It has fallen to its current level of $1,279.50, down from $1,291.80 in early Friday trading.

While today is a quiet start to the week, it gives a chance to look at the week ahead. There is some significant data set for release throughout the week, while there will no doubt be events away from raw economic data that will cause market fluctuations.

Today –  German Buba Monthly Report, UK CBI Industrial Order Expectations, Canadian Wholesale Sales, European Consumer Confidence, Australian CB Leading Index

Tuesday – European, German, French Flash Manufacturing & Services PMIs

Wednesday – Australian CPI & Trimmed CPI, UK Prelim GDP, US Core Durable Goods Orders

Thursday – US Crude Oil Inventories, BoC Overnight Rate & Rate Statement, European Minimum Bid Rate, US Unemployment Claims

Friday –  US Advance GDP