A stack of data is expected to be released this week, while central banks come into focus.

The EURUSD made some meagre gains of Friday in what was a quiet day for most currencies. The pair opened at $1.14449 and remained flat early, dipping to a low of $1.14331. Mid-session saw the euro climb until it peaked at $1.14877. It quickly gave up a chunk of those gains and in early Monday trading it is at $1.14547. The GBPUSD was a different story however. The pair opened at $1.31038 and was steady early, bumping up to a high of $1.31149. The pound then fell off a cliff as it tumbled to a low of $1.30422 just an hour or so later. It was able to bounce off those lows and eliminate some of those losses, climbing back up as high as $1.31010. It is now trading at $1.30773.

The Dow remained reasonably flat on Friday, despite the release of NFP data. The index opened at 25,058.76 and was basically a non-event during the first half of the trading day. The Dow climbed from a near-low of 24,983.84 to a high of 25,179.72 late in the session before it quickly gave up those gains, falling to a low of 24,971.20. It is currently trading at 25,011.16. The Dax remained steady on Friday in what was a quiet day for markets. The German index opened at 11,166.52 and climbed to an early high of 11,216.61. The Dax began to decline shortly afterwards until it hit a low of 11,110.61. The Dax bounced off those lows and regained most of those losses before closing at 11,177.11.

The week ahead is one that is packed with data which could cause some volatility. As for today, it a quiet one for data, but attention will turn to Australia. The Australian government will be releasing the findings from their banking Royal Commission which has been conducted over the past year or so. This investigation was launched into the bank sector amid concerns that some of the big banks were ripping off customers. The findings and recommendations could lead to heavy sanctions on banks and individuals within those institutions, while we could see a big shake-up to the banking sector. The government has decided to release these findings outside trading hours as it is acutely aware of the volatility that these finding can bring.

Data published today and the most significant this week include:

Today – Australian Building Approvals & ANZ Job Advertisements, UK Construction PMI, European PPI & Sentix Investor Confidence, Spanish Unemployment Change, Italian Prelim CPI, US Factory Orders

Tuesday – Australian Cash Rate, RBA Rate Statement, Trade Balance and Retail Sales

Wednesday – US ISM Non-Manufacturing PMI, RBA Governor Philip Lowe speaks

Thursday – BoE Official Bank Rate, Monetary Policy Summary and Inflation Report, NZ Employment Change & Unemployment Rate, Fed Chair Jerome Powell speaks

Friday – Canadian Employment Change and Unemployment Rate

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