Plenty of activity overnight, with markets around the world plunging as US stocks had their worst outing since the market correction in February.

The EUR/USD climber overnight, shaking off the indifferent performance from the day before. The pair opened at $1.14877 and climbed to $1.15147 early before remaining steady for a few hours. Mid-session saw some activity as the pair fall to lows of $1.14786 before rebounding and rallying to a high of 1.15445. It has come off those highs and is currently trading at $1.15336. The GBP/USD followed a similar path to the euro after opening at $1.31412. The pair dropped to lows of $1.31297 during the opening hour before beginning its slow march up. The pair peaked at $1.32149 late in the session and is currently trading at $1.32004.

The Dow copped the brunt in a disastrous day for markets, with many stocks suffering their worst single day loss since the market correction in February. Many experts have laid this sell-off at the feet of fears of rapidly rising interest rates in the US. As rising rates have been a possibility for quite a while, it seems surprising that the markets have sold off in such a sudden fashion. Regardless of the reasoning, the Dow plummeted over 1,000 points from its highs. The index opened the day at 26,456.59 and remained flat throughout early and mid-session trading, bumping up to a high of 26,515.05. Then, the rot set in. Late in the day the Dow started to receive some selling pressure, eventually overwhelming the buyers as stocks collapsed. The Dow plummeted to a low of 25,421.72 and is struggling to move away from that level, currently trading at 25,452.95. The Dax was weighed down by the Dow and closed in negative territory. The German index opened at 11,950.59 and peaked at 11,992.20 during the opening hour. It was all downhill from there though, the Dax selling off in line with the Dow where it bottomed-out at 11,614.60. The Dax eventually closed at 11,642.20.

The day ahead will be another busy one for markets, which is still in recovery mode from the carnage overnight. The US will be releasing CPI & Core CPI data. Both are expected to reach 0.2% growth. This data will come under closer scrutiny as inflation can influence monetary policy settings at the Fed Reserve. Other data set for release today includes:

Canada – NHPI

Australia – MI Inflation Expectations

China – M2 Money Supply, New Loans

Europe – French Final CPI, ECB Monetary Policy Meeting Accounts

UK – BoE Credit Conditions Survey, BoE Governor Mark Carney and MPC Member Gertjan Vlieghe speak

US – Treasury Currency Report, Unemployment Claims, Natural Gas Storage, Crude Oil Inventories

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