Plenty of activity from around the world today, with data and trade tensions dominating the day.

The USD weakened over the back half of the day, allowing paired currencies to climb overnight. The EURUSD opened the day at $1.12227 and lifted slightly in early trading before dipping down to lows of $1.12043 mid-session. The euro rallied off those lows, peaking at $1.12798 late in the day. It has come off those highs and is currently trading at $1.12575. The GBPUSD also made some strong gains overnight after opening at $1.24296. The pair dipped to a low of $1.24230 in the opening hour and remained near those levels in early trading. Mid-session trading saw the pound advance and that accelerated in late trading, surging to a high of $1.25575. It has come off those highs slightly and is now trading at $1.25429.

The Dow looked set for another negative session, until a rally late in the day put it into positive territory. The index started the day at 25,175.92 and was rather flat early, before falling to a low of 27,078.42 mid-session. The Dow bounced off those lows, climbing to a high of 27,324.01. It is currently trading at 27,295.73. The Dax continues its underwhelming performance that have plagued it over the last few days. Opening at 12,235.92 (around 65 points lower than its previous close), the German index dropped to a low of 12,188.58 shortly afterwards. The Dax then climbed to a high of 12,299.68 a few hours later but those highs were quickly given up. It struggled for the rest of the session, closing at 12,244.15.

While the day ahead sees the release of economic data, there are a few other things happening around the world that could cause some shakes in the markets. Earnings data from some of America’s biggest corporations continue to be released, trade tensions between the US and China continue to simmer and, after the shooting down of an Iranian drone, US and Iran tensions heat up once again.

Data published today includes:

NZ – Credit Card Spending

Japan – All Industries Activity

UK – Public Sector Net Borrowing

Canada – Retail & Core Retail Sales

Europe – European Current Account, German PPI

US – Prelim UoM Consumer Sentiment and Inflation Expectations, FOMC Members James Bullard and Eric Rosengren speak

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