The raising of rates by the US central bank ensured plenty of volatility for markets. There is also plenty of market-moving information set for release today, which will likely see more volatility.

The EUR/USD began the session at lows of $1.22395 and steadily gained in strength through most of the trading session. When the interest rate announcement was made, the pair took off. It had weakened to $1.22496, but it rocketed up to session highs of $1.23496. It is not far off those highs, trading at $1.23402. The GBP/USD followed a similar pattern to the Euro, opening the session at lows of $1.39926. It climbed throughout the session, then spiked around the time of the US interest rate meeting as the USD showed weakness. It peaked at $1.41499 before coming back to its current level of $1.41375.

The Dow was quite volatile overnight, thanks again to the central bank meeting. It showed signs of positivity early before weakening to lows of 24,658.77. It started to build nicely from that point, piling on as much as 190 points in the lead up to the Fed meeting. As news of the Fed’s announcements filtered through, the Dow rallied another 120 points to reach highs of 24,989.00. However, like a child atop a ladder and suddenly looks down, the Dow got scared of heights. It basically did a 180 degree turn and erased all of those gains as quickly as it piled them on. It plummeted over 300 points to near session lows. It has recovered slightly to be trading at 24,716.70. The Dax started the session strongly, climbing to highs of 12,373.22. It ebbed and flowed throughout the night, spiking to near-session-highs and then falling as it followed the Dow’s lead. It fell to session lows of 12,222.22 before rebounded slightly, trading at 12,259.97.

Looking at the day ahead and there is plenty of significant data set for release today. The Bank of England meets to decide the UK’s official interest rate later tonight in what is sure to cause more volatility. Look for this meeting to affect the FTSE100 and GBP-paired currencies. Other data set for release today include:

Australia – Employment Change, Unemployment Rate

Japan – Flash Manufacturing PMI, All Industries Activity

Canada – Governor Council Member Carolyn Wilkins speaks

UK – Retail Sales, Monetary Policy Summary, Asset Purchase Facility, MPC Member David Ramsden speaks

US – Unemployment Claims, HPI, Flash Manufacturing PMI, Flash Services PMI, CB Leading Index, Natural Gas Storage

Europe – European, German & French Flash Services PMIs, European, German & French Flash Manufacturing PMIs, German Ifo Business Climate, European Current Account, ECB Bulletin, Belgian NBB Business Climate

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