Attention turns local as crucial economic data is published in Australia little later today.

The US dollar strengthen overnight, sending paired currencies down. The EURUSD $1.13247 and looked solid early, climbing to a high of $1.13426 at the start of mid-session trading. Things went south from there as the euro fell over a large chunk of the day to hit a low of $1.12813. It has come off those lows and is currently trading at $1.12924. The GBPUSD suffered the same fate as its European counterpart after opening the day at $1.27174. The pound remained steady early, before gaining momentum mid-session to peak at $1.27576. It tumbled from that point, bottoming-out at $1.26803 late in the day. The pound has slightly improved, now trading at $1.26919.

The Dow remained largely flat overnight after beginning the day at 26,060.63. The index weakened throughout the first half of the day, hitting lows of 25,956.54 before bouncing back and hitting a high of 26,094.98. It came off those highs quickly and returned near its opening price. It is currently trading at 26,043.32. The Dax followed the Dow’s lead and was also quite stable overnight. The German index opened at 12,116.03 and lifted to an early high of 12,131.93 before falling to a low of 12,063.18 a short time later. It spent the rest of the session regaining some of those losses before closing at 12,099.72.

The day ahead is set to be a big one, particularly or local markets. Australia will be publishing Employment Change and Unemployment Rate figures. After the week economic data emanating from Australia of late, it will be vital for the country to start posting some good figures. It has been noted that the unemployment rate will have to fall by around 0.6% in order for wage inflation to kick in, which has been anaemic for the last few years and is becoming a drag on the economy.

Other data published today includes:

All – OPEC-JMMC Meetings

Canada – NHPI

Australia – MI Inflation Expectations

Japan – Tertiary Industry Activity

China – Foreign Direct Investment

US – Import Prices, Unemployment Claims, Natural Gas Storage

Europe – Swiss Libor Rate, SNB Monetary Policy Assessment & Press Conference, Swiss SECO Economic Forecasts, German Final PPI, European Industrial Production, Italian Quarterly Unemployment Rate, Eurogroup Meetings

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