Crucial Chinese & Australian data in focus

January 18, 2018

A busy data for markets and there is plenty for traders to sink their teeth into.

The EUR/USD pair was again on a roller coaster as the USD gained in strength. The pair hit session highs of $1.23228, then it ebbed and flowed for the rest of the session. It has dropped in the last couple of hours, hitting session lows of $1.21756. It has since come of those lows slightly, currently trading at $1.2189. The GBP/USD weakened early, reaching session lows of $1.37553, before steadily climbing. It then shot up almost a whole cent in a one-hour period, reaching session highs of $1.39422. It has since given up all of that gain as the USD gained momentum. It is currently trading at $1.38236.

The Dow went off to the races last night as its remarkable run continues. It began the session at lows of 25,791.08, steadily piled on 210 points, dropped 100 points, then proceeded to add another 250 points to each all-time highs of 26,141.15. It has retraced ever so slightly, currently trading at 26,116.30. The Dax began the session solidly, before dropping as much as 120 points to session lows of 13,133.43. However, it rebounded from that point to steadily add as much as 13,259.67. It is now at 13,239.10.

Turning to today’s activities and the main announcements from today and the most crucial data is the GDP figure from China and the Employment Change/Unemployment Rate figures from Australia. As most countries rely on exports to support their economy, it is important for the Chinese economy to keep growing, as they are a massive importer of goods. This figure could have an effect on currencies whose main export partner is China such as the AUD. The Australian figures are important to the AUD, as well as the ASX 200. Other data set for release today include:

UK – RICS House Price Balance

Australia – HIA New Home Sales, MI Inflation Expectations

Japan – Revised Industrial Production

Europe – German Buba President Jens Weidmann speaks

Canada – ADP Non-Farm Employment Change

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

US – Building Permits, Housing Start, Philly Fed Manufacturing Index, Unemployment Claims, Natural Gas Storage, Crude Oil Inventories