UK data eyed, some markets closed for holidays

March 29, 2018

A swathe of data set for release from around the world ensures plenty of market activity tonight. Many countries will be observing the Easter holiday period, which for many, starts tomorrow. Traders should be mindful of their open positions and whether they will be affected by the upcoming market closures.

The USD strengthened overnight, pushing down USD-paired currencies. The EUR/USD was solid in early trading, peaking at $1.24207. It was downhill from that point on however. The pair got whacked further when the US GDP figure beat expectations. The pair fell as low as $1.22994. It is not far off those lows, trading at $1.23088. The GBP/USD followed a similar trend, climbing to highs of $1.42000 early before beginning its slide. The pair fell to lows of $1.40696. It is almost at those lows, trading at $1.40775.

The Dow ended the session close to where it started, but there were some wild swings in between. It ebbed and flowed until it saw a wild drop down to 23,722.00. It then piled on more than 350 points to reach session highs of 24,092.54. It then gave up most of those gains as it dropped 350 points. It has since rebounded and is currently trading at 23,931.10. The Dax showed quite a bit of volatility as it was dragged down by the Dow, while also following the Dow back up as the Dow rallied. A falling euro also helped the Dax’s rally. The Dax hit session lows of 11,766.20 early before surging to session highs of 12,010.70. It has come off those highs, but is still trading at 11,945.70.

Turning to events of today and it’s the UK we focus our attention on. They are releasing crucial Current Account and Final GDP figures. These pieces of information will likely cause volatility with GBP-paired currencies. Due to the public holidays coming up, we have compiled a list of announcements for today, tomorrow and Monday.

Today:

Japan – Retail Sales

Australia – Private Sector Credit

Canada – GDP, RMPI, IPPI

Europe – German Prelim CPI & Unemployment Change, Swiss KOF Economic Barometer

UK – Net Lending to Individuals, Index of Services, M4 Money Supply, Mortgage Approvals, Revised Business Investment

US – Core PCE Price Index, Personal Spending, Unemployment Claims, Personal Income, Chicago PMI, Revised UoM Consumer Sentiment & Inflation Expectations, Natural Gas Storage

 

Friday:

Holidays – Australia, NZ, Switzerland, Germany, UK, Canada

China – Manufacturing & Non-Manufacturing PMIs

Europe – French & Italian Prelim CPI, French Consumer Spending

Japan – Tokyo Core CPI, Unemployment Rate, Prelim Industrial Production, Housing Starts

 

Monday:

Holidays – Australia, NZ, Switzerland, Germany, France, UK, Italy

China – Caixin Manufacturing PMI

Canada – Manufacturing PMI

Japan – Tankan Manufacturing & Non-Manufacturing Indexes, Final Manufacturing PMI

US – Final Manufacturing PMI, ISM Manufacturing PMI, Construction Spending, ISM Manufacturing Prices

 

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