A hectic week for markets, with plenty of significant data set for release.

The USD continues to flex its muscle against other major currencies, sending USD-paired currencies on Friday. The EUR/USD strengthened to a high of $1.18212 in early trading before succumbing to a stronger dollar. The pair fell to lows of $1.17489 where it then bounced back up to $1.17881. However, it could not hold onto that level, dropping to its current price of $1.17611. The pound followed a similar pattern, unable to hold itself up against the dollar. The GBP/USD steadily rose to a high of $1.35280 before falling to lows of $1.34542. It has regained some of those losses, currently trading at $1.34734.

The Dow trading in a fairly narrow range by the standards of late. It climbed to highs of 24,802.93 in mid-session trading but then gave up those gains as it fell to lows of 24,656.53. The Dow closed at 24,722.00 on Friday. However, in early morning trading, the Dow opened with a massive jump, opening at 24,893.50. It rallied as high as 24,967.60 before pulling back to its current level of 24,917.20. The Dax closed the session in the red, in a sign that it might just be taking a breather from the rallies of late. The Dax reached highs of 13136.30 during its first hour of trade, where it held up for the first few hours. It then ran out of momentum and started its decline. It fell to lows of 13,046.30 but showed some resilience to claw back some of those losses as it closed at 13,074.50.

The week ahead is full of significant economic events that is sure to cause some market volatility. The announcements today and the most significant for the week include:

Today – NZ Credit Card Spending, Australian CB Leading Index, ECB Financial Stability Review, OPEC-JMMC Meetings, FOMC Member Raphael Bostic speaks, German, French, Canadian and Swiss bank holidays

Tuesday – UK Inflation Report Hearings

Wednesday – UK CPI, RBA Governor Philip Lowe speaks

Thursday – Crude Oil Inventories, FOMC Meeting Minutes, UK Retail Sales, BoE Governor Mark Carney speaks, ECB Monetary Policy Meeting Accounts

Friday – UK Second Estimate GDP, US Core Durable Goods Orders, Fed Chair Jerome Powell & BoE Governor Mark Carney speak

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