A busy day coming up for markets with plenty of data set for release from around the world.

The USD continues to strengthen, putting downward pressure on paired currencies. The EUR/USD continued its struggles, dropping below $1.22 overnight. After reaching session highs of $1.22378 quite early, it was basically all downhill from there. The pair eventually bottomed-out at $1.21592. It is not far off those lows, currently trading at $1.21686. The GBP/USD suffered a similar fate as the euro, peaking early then weakening throughout most of the session. The pair hit a high of $1.33962 before falling away to eventually reach a low of $1.39190. Like the pound, the euro is not far from those lows, currently trading at $1.39363.

The Dow remains quite shaky, after its 800-point belting it took earlier in the week. After beginning the session quite flat, the Dow dropped to lows of 23,823.16. From that point however, it began to stage a recovery to be currently trading at 24,164.60 in early morning trading. The Dax hit session highs of 12,487.50 in the first hour of trading, before being weighed down by the Dow. It hit lows of 12,314.00. It then rebounded, thanks to a rallying Dow and a weaker euro. The Dax recovered most of its losses, closing at 12,443.70.

The day ahead sees focus turn to the interest rate meeting from Europe. As with all interest rate meetings, it is vital to not only pay attention to the results of the meeting, but also what policymakers have to say about the economic outlook for Europe as well as future monetary policy settings. Other data set for release today includes:

Australia – Import Prices

NZ – Trade Balance

UK – High Street Lending, CBI Realised Sales, GfK Consumer Confidence

Europe – German GfK Consumer Climate, Spanish Unemployment Rate and ECB Press Conference

US – Durable & Core Durable Goods Orders, Unemployment Claims, Goods Trade Balance, Prelim Wholesale Inventories, Natural Gas Storage

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