A huge week ahead, with plenty of data emanating from around the world. The week kicks off with an unusually busy Monday.

The dollar strengthened on Friday, sending paired currencies down. The EUR/USD opened at $1.16699 and remained flat in early trading before picking up and hitting a high of $1.16896. The pair remained near those highs for a few hours before beginning its slide. It bottomed-out at $1.15837 in late trading and is not far off those lows this morning, sitting at $1.15961. The GBP/USD opened at $1.30040 and was steady early before lifting to a high of $1.30282. Like the euro, the pound began to decline, hitting lows of $1.29444 late in the session. It has opened quite lower this morning and is currently trading at $1.29237.

The Dow endured a roller coaster session after opening at 25,956.63. The index climbed to 26,010.80, then slid to 25,917.54 before rallying to a high of 26,029.71. The Dow then fell to a low of 25,878.39 late in the session but was able to bounce off those lows to be currently trading at 25,985.40.  The Dax struggled on Friday, unable to take advantage of a falling euro. The German index opened at 12,462.27 and bumped up to a high of 12,471.20 during the first hour of trade. The Dax fell from that point, tumbling to a low of 12,310.80 before recovering some losses, closing at 12,350.70.

The week ahead sees the publication of a stack of significant market data. This is headlined by the US Non-Farm Payroll data being released on Friday. The data published today and the most significant data releases for the rest of the week include:

Today – UK Manufacturing PMI & BRC Retail Sales Monitor, Australian Retail Sales, Company Operating Profits, ANZ Job Advertisements, Commodity Prices and MI Inflation Gauge, China Caixin Manufacturing PMI, Japanese Monetary Base, BoJ Governor Haruhiko Kuroda speaks, Swiss Retail Sales & Manufacturing PMI, European, German and French Final Manufacturing PMIs, Italian & Spanish Manufacturing PMIs, German Buba President Jens Weidmann speaks, US & Canada bank holidays

Tuesday – Australian Cash Rate, RBA Rate Statement, RBA Governor Philip Lowe speaks, UK Inflation Report Hearings, US ISM Manufacturing PMI

Wednesday – Australian GDP, UK Services PMI, Canadian Trade Balance, Overnight Rate, BoC Rate Statement

Thursday – Australian Trade Balance, US ISM Non-Manufacturing PMI, ADP Non-farm Employment Change, Crude Oil Inventories

Friday – US Non-Farm Employment Change, Average Hourly Earnings, Unemployment Rate, Canadian Employment Change & Unemployment Rate

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