Australian data eyed

November 16, 2017

Today shapes up as another busy day for markets, with plenty of data set for release.

The EUR/USD went on a bit of a wild ride overnight, the pair climbing throughout the early stages of the night, the falling away once the US CPI & Retail Sales data was released. The pair fluctuated between $1.1784 and $1.1860. It has since retreated further early this morning, where it currently sits at $1.1779. The GBP/USD spiked early last night as it jumped from around $1.3140 to $1.3216 It pulled back after those highs to where it currently sits at $1.3160.

US stocks copped another belting overnight. The Dow, the mainstay of the record high closes of recent times, is getting hammered the most. It dropped another 138.19 points (-0.59%) to close at 23,271.28. The S&P 500 wasn’t far off, losing 14.25 points (-0.55%) to end the session on 2,564.62. The NASDAQ was the best of the worst, dropping 31.66 points (-0.47%) to close at 6,706.21. European stocks fared no better, the FTSE shedding 41.81 points (-0.56%) to close at 7,372.61, while the DAX dropped 57.11 points (-0.44%) to end the session below 13,000 (12,976.37).

Gold was on a roller coaster, spiking as high as $1,289.00. It did fall as low as $1,276.90. It has picked itself up from those lows, to where it currently sits at 1,278.20.

Looking ahead to today and the significant data set for release emanates from Australia. Australia is releasing Employment Change and Unemployment Rate data. This data is a crucial indicator of the strength of the Australian economy. Other data set for publication today include:

UK – Retail Sales

Australia – MI Inflation Expectations

Europe – European Final CPI & Core CPI

Canada – Foreign Securities Purchases, Manufacturing Sales, BoC Review

US – Unemployment Claims, Import Prices, Philly Fed Manufacturing Index, Capacity Utilisation Rate, Industrial Production, NAHB Housing Market Index, Natural Gas Storage