Another day packed full of data, but it is a speech by the ECB President that has captured the interest of markets.

The EUR/USD largely fell throughout the trading session yesterday. After hitting a peak of $1.18475 early yesterday, it progressively fell away where it reached lows overnight of $1.17793 before rebounding to its current level of $1.18021. There seems to be a strengthening of the USD, rather than a weakening Euro, as the GBP/USD pair also fell. The pair followed the same trajectory as the EUR/USD. The pound hit highs in early trading of $1.34357, then dropped late last night to lows of $1.33566, then regained some ground overnight to its current level of $1.33855.

US stocks continue to struggle as they seem to have plateaued over the last few days. It is hard to say whether markets a genuinely slowing down or if they are just taking a breather before heading higher again. The Dow gave up ground as it hit session lows of 24,079.82 in early trading. It ebbed and flowed before eventually hitting session highs of 24,227.92. It then pared back some of those gains to where it is presently trading at 24,170.90. The S&P 500 is not far off from where it was in early trading yesterday. It hit lows of 2,620.31 early on, before staging a solid and steady recovery. It reached session highs of 2,634.87 in late trading. It is not far off that mark, at 2,631.99. It was at 2,631.20 this time yesterday. The NASDAQ bucked the US malaise. After dropping to session lows of 6,229.72 early, it went from strength to strength, piling on more than 70 points to reach highs of 6,304.80. It has come off those highs slightly, currently trading at 6,294.60. Th DAX struggled through most of the trading session, hitting lows of 12,860.20. It loitered around the low 12,900’s for quite a while before gathering upward momentum as it broke into 13,000-territory. It is currently at 13,001.11. The FTSE went off to the races last night, falling to lows of 7,285.73 early before performing an about-face and adding over 80 points at its peak of 7,368.60. It can off those highs, but it is still carrying most of those gains, currently at 7,334.81.

Looking at the day ahead and the markets will focus most of their attention on a speech being delivered by ECB President Mario Draghi in the early hours of tomorrow morning. What will his speech mean for European stocks and EUR-paired trades? An interesting event to keep an eye on. Data being released today includes:

Japan – Leading Indicators

UK – Halifax HPI

Canada – Building Permits, Ivey PMI

US – Challenger Job Cuts, Unemployment Claims, Natural Gas Storage, Consumer Credit

Europe – Swiss Unemployment Rate & Foreign Currency Reserves, German Industrial Production, French Trade Balance, Italian Quarterly Unemployment Rate, European Revised GDP