US data eyed

April 10, 2018

A relatively quiet day for announcements, although there is still plenty of activity occurring away from economic releases.

The EUR/USD took a small leg up overnight as the USD showed some signs of weakness. The pair traded in a fairly tight range early in the day before heading on an upward trajectory after the European markets opened. It hit a low of $1.22596, but then turned it around to add some value, climbing to a session high of $1.23305. From that point, it remained reasonably flat and it currently trading at $1.23212. The GBP/USD followed a similar pattern, beginning the session reasonably flat, then hitting a low of $1.40766. It proceeded to gain momentum as it rallied to a high of $1.41636. It has pulled back from those highs, currently trading at $1.41321.

The Dow continues to be enigmatic. After opening at 23,975.00, it gradually added a tick over 400 points to hit highs of 24,381.00. From that point on however, it gave up all of those gains in a matter of three hours as it hit session lows of 23,950.51. It has rebounded off those lows, trading at 24,030.10. The Dax started the session well, hitting highs of 12,373.40 early. It weakened from that point, reaching session lows of 12,202.20 a matter of hours later. It rebounded 100 points from its lows but was eventually dragged down by an underperforming Dow and a stronger euro. It closed the session at 12,231.70.

Turning to today and the most significant piece of data to be released is the US PPI figure. This figure reflects the change in the price of finished goods and services sold by producers. It is also a good indicator for inflation in the economy. Essentially, if there is enough demand for a product or service, producers are able to charge more for it, fuelling inflation. Away from economic data and there seems to be some significant events happening in the White House. The investigation into possible collusion between the Trump administration and Russia took a step-up in intensity as the special prosecutor in the investigation has raided the office of Donald Trump’s personal lawyer. Whether this will lead to anything substantial, no one knows. It is certainly getting closer to the President himself. Other data set for release today includes:

Australia – NAB Business Confidence

UK – MPC Member Andy Haldane speaks

Canada – Building Permits, Housing Starts

Europe – French & Italian Industrial Production

US – NFIB Small Business Index, Core PPI, Final Wholesale Inventories

Japan – Prelim Machine Tool Orders, Bank Lending, Core Machinery Orders, PPI

 

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