As we head into the weekend, market attention pivots to China and the release of some significant economic data.

The USD continues to strengthen, pushing down paired currencies. The EUR/USD opened at $1.14984 and remained flat for the first several hours of the day. The pair then rose to a high of $1.15258 but quickly gave up those gains with the pair falling during the back half of the session, bottoming-out at $1.14481. It is not far of that, currently trading at $1.14541. The GBP/USD followed the same path as the euro after opening at $1.31134. The pair dropped slightly and stayed flat for several hours before picking up to a high of $1.31306. The pound then tumbled to a low of $1.30142 late and is currently trading at $1.30210.

Indices were belted overnight, with the Dow and Dax both copping the brunt of it. The Dow opened at 25,695.24 and remained steady throughout early and mid-session trading, bumping up to a high of 25,731.23. The slide began shortly afterwards, declining over the next few hours before falling off a cliff late in the day. The index plummeted to lows of 25,227.33 before bouncing back to its current trading level of 25,379.50. The Dax started with plenty of potential after opening at 11,692.94. The German index then rallied to a session high of 11,786.60 not long after opening before falling for most of the day after that. The Dax dropped to lows of 11,485.10 late in the session, then closed at 11,525.10.

The day ahead sees the publication of a swathe of data, headlined by the GDP figure from China. As the Chinese economy continues to grow, it relies on trade with other countries to fuel that growth. As such, smaller economies rely on the continued growth in China to prop up their own bottom lines. The economy is expected to grow at 6.6%, which is slightly down from the previous reading of 6.7%. Other data set for release includes:

Europe – Current Account

NZ – Credit Card Spending

Japan – BoJ Governor Haruhiko Kuroda speaks

US – Existing Home Sales, FOMC Member Raphael Bostic speaks

UK – Public Sector Net Borrowing, BoE Governor Mark Carney speaks

Canada – CPI, Core, Median, Trimmed and Common CPIs, Retail & Core Retail Sales

China – Fixed Asset Investment, Industrial Production, NBS Press Conference, Retail Sales, Unemployment Rate

Disclaimer: The information in this website is of a general nature only and the advice has been prepared without taking account of your objectives, financial situation or needs. Accordingly, before acting on the advice, you should consider the appropriateness of the advice having regard to your objectives, financial situation and needs. We recommend you seek independent advice if necessary.