Fed minutes in focus

November 29, 2018

A busy day today with a large volume of data set for release.

The dollar was hammered overnight on the back of a speech by Fed Chair Jerome Powell. The EUR/USD opened the day at $1.12844 and remained quite flat early, dropping to a low of $1.12661 mid-session. It traded at those levels heading into late-session trading. The Fed Chair then sent the USD tumbling when he remarked that US interest rates were close to neutral. The pair then surged until it peaked at $1.13872. It has come off those highs and is currently trading at $1.13674. The GBP/USD also made some strong gains overnight after opening the day at $1.27386. Like the euro, the pound was flat early, dipping to a low of $1.27305 during the first hour of trade. It hummed along before rallying to $1.28053, but then fell back to $1.27413. From there however, it rallied until it reached a high of $1.28464. It has come off those highs slightly, currently trading at $1.28287.

The Dow surged overnight on the back of comments made Jerome Powell. The index opened at 24,771.34 and dipped to a low of 24,730.78 early. The gains were steady and gradual throughout the day before the Fed Chair stepped up to the plate. His remarks regarding interest rates sent the Dow up, where it peaked at 25,363.77. It has opened slightly lower today and is currently trading at 25,315.00. The Dax also performed well, helped by a rallying Dow. The German index opened the day at 11,384.11 and declined for at least half the session, falling to a low of 11,276.60 before rallying to a high of 11,420.80 during the final hour of trade. It closed at 11,413.30.

The day ahead is full of data, with the most significant being the release of minutes from the last meeting of the Fed Reserve. These minutes will come further into focus, given the speech given by Jerome Powell overnight. Other data published includes:

Japan – Retail Sales

Canada – Current Account

NZ – ANZ Business Confidence

Australia – Private Capital Expenditure, HIA New Home Sales

UK – Mortgage Approvals, M4 Money Supply, Net Lending to Individuals

US – Personal Spending, Personal Income, Core PCE Price Index, Unemployment Claims, Pending Home Sales, Natural Gas Storage

Europe – Swiss GDP, German Prelim CPI, French Consumer Spending, French Prelim GDP, Spanish Flash CPI, German Unemployment Change, ECB Financial Stability Review, ECB President Mario Draghi speaks

 

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