A relatively busy day ahead for markets, with focus taking a local slant as Australia’s central bank meeting today.

Major currencies continue to struggle against a strengthening USD. The EUR/USD opened at $1.15656 and lifted to a high of $1.15699 during the opening hour of trade. For the next several hours the pair remained quite flat, although it weakened slightly along the way. Later trading saw the pair drop to lows of $1.15289 before recovering over the next few hours to almost reach session highs. The pair could not maintain that momentum as it slid back to its current level of $1.15566. The GBP/USD fared worse than its euro counterpart after opening at $1.29961. The pound reached highs of $1.30078 and remained reasonably flat in early. Heading into mid-session trading, the pair began its tumble until it bottomed-out at $1.29188. The pair recovered some of those losses in late trading and has remained flat for several hours. It is currently trading at $1.29435.

The Dow recovered nicely after some jitters in early and mid-session trading. The stock opened at 25,453.21 and lifted to 25,512.64 before sliding over the next several hours to a low of 25,374.30. However, it was able to regain those losses as it headed to a high of 25,536.11. It could not hold onto those highs though, but still remains at respectable 25,501.10. The Dax weakened overnight and endured some large swings as it decided to not follow the Dow and do its own thing. The Dax opened at 12,645.22 and tumbled to lows of 12,535.40 a few hours into the session. It quickly bounced off those lows to rocket to a high of 12,717.40. However, as with the case with sharp rallies, the pullback can be just as swift, with the Dax falling back to a near-session low of 12,539.69. The stock recover some of those losses and closed at 12,601.30.

The focus for the day ahead takes on a local flavour as the RBA meets to decide interest rates. While it is widely expected that rates remain on hold, the accompanying RBA Rate Statement may hold some important clues into the economic outlook for the country as far as the RBA is concerned. It could also provide an insight into the future of monetary policy settings for Australia. Other data set for release today includes:

Japan – Average Cash Earnings, Leading Indicators

Canada – Ivey PMI

UK – Halifax HPI

NZ – GDT Price Index

US – JOLTS Job Openings, IBD/TIPP Economic Optimism, Consumer Credit

Europe – German Industrial Production, Swiss Foreign Currency Reserves, German & French Trade Balance

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