A hectic schedule ahead for markets as we head into the weekend, with volatility set to continue throughout the trading session.

Fed Chair Jerome Powell sent markets lower once again, with interest rate talk making markets nervous. The Fed had factored in three rate rises this year, however given the tone taken by Powell, markets are now bracing themselves for a possible fourth rate rise.

The Dow was again the whipping boy, going from a high of 25,177.93 to session lows of 24,427.50. It has since recovered from that point, currently trading at 24,659.40. The Dax was not immune to market volatility either, dropping from session highs of 12,400.97 to lows of 12,010.20. It regained a small amount of those losses, currently trading at 12,063.80.

The EUR/USD was involved in some big swings. After dropping to session lows of $1.21517 around the time of the Powell speech, it rocketed up as news filtered through that Donald Trump was implementing trade tariffs on imported steel and aluminium. The pair shot up to highs of $1.22710 where it is not far off currently. The GBP/USD remained reasonable flat with some small movements in between. It hit session lows of $1.37103 before bouncing back to session highs of $1.37846, which is near where it started and ended the trading session.

The big event for markets this weekend is the Italian general election on Sunday. This is sure to cause some volatility has news filters through about the chances of the leading candidates winning the election. More volatility can be expected if a candidate who is not expected to win starts to poll better than expected, like what has been seen previously with general elections. Other data set for release today includes:

Canada – GDP

Australia – HIA New Home Sales

US – Revised UoM Consumer Sentiment & Inflation Expectations

UK – Construction PMI, Theresa May & BoE Governor Mark Carney are set to speak

Europe – PPI, German Retail Sales, German Import Prices, Spanish Unemployment Change

Disclaimer: The views expressed in this blog are those of the author only. Opinions offered in this blog are no guarantee of market direction and performance. Traders/Investors should not rely on this blog alone for their market information. This blog is not an indicator of market direction and performance. Trading the forex market is high risk and losses can exceed deposits.