A swathe of data is scheduled to be published this week, culminating in a Fed Reserve meeting on Thursday morning.

The USD asserted its authority once again, sending paired currencies down on Friday. The EURUSD opened the day at $1.12755 and remained flat early, ticking up to a high of $1.12880 mid-session. The euro gave up those highs as it fell to lows of $1.12015 late in the day. It is currently trading at $1.12152. The GBPUSD followed a similar path to the euro after opening the final day of the trading week at $1.26729. The pound lifted to a high of $1.26810 early and was flat in early trading. Mid-session trading saw the pound slide over the back end of the session. It hit lows of $1.25787 during the last hour of trade. It has come off those lows slightly and is currently trading at $1.25911.

The Dow ended the week with another positive session on Friday. The index began the day at 26,106.60 and lifted to near-session highs of 26,147.85 early in the day. Mid-session trading saw the Dow give up those gains as it fell to a low of 25,980.82. However, it climbed off that low to peak at 26,155.49 late in the day. It is trading slightly higher this morning, currently trading at 26,158.34. The Dax ended the week in negative territory after opening at 12,175.28. The German index bumped up to an opening hour high of 12,176.83 before tumbling to a low of 12,046.95 a few hours later. The Dax came off those lows but was unable to recover all of its earlier losses, eventually closing at 12,112.04.

The week ahead is full of data, headlined by the Fed Reserve meeting later in the week. There are some analysts calling for an interest rate cut, but this seems unlikely considering how strong the data from the US has been. Rates are likely to remain on hold.

Data released today and the most important this week includes:

Today – German Buba Monthly Report, Canadian Foreign Securities Purchases, US Empire State Manufacturing Index, US NAHB Housing Market Index

Tuesday – Australian Monetary Policy Meeting Minutes, ECB President Mario Draghi speaks

Wednesday – UK CPI, Canadian CPI, BoE Governor Mark Carney speaks

Thursday – FOMC Economic Projections, FOMC Statement, Federal Funds Rate and FOMC Press Conference, BoJ Monetary Policy Statement & Press Conference, UK Retail Sales, UK Official Bank Rate BoE Monetary Policy Summary, RBA Governor Philip Lowe speaks

Friday – German & French Flash Manufacturing PMIs, German & French Flash Services PMI, Canadian Core Retail Sales, BoE Governor Mark Carney speaks

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