Plenty of data scheduled for release today with Europe coming into focus.

The EURUSD was largely flat overnight, taking a breather from the falls of late. The pair opened the day at $1.11510 and remained steady early, dipping to a low of $1.11260 mid-session. It came off those lows, rising to a high of $1.11554 a few hours later. It gave up some of those gains and is currently trading at $1.11361. The GBPUSD was quite the opposite overnight, posting some solid gains after beginning the session at $1.24369. The pair started the day in steady fashion, dipping to a low of $1.24255 early, before rallying to a high of $1.25214 mid-session. It came off those highs late in the day but still held onto a large chunk of its earlier gains. It is currently trading at $1.24805.

The Dow endured a negative session on the back of poor earnings data. The index began the day at 27,329.69 and climbed to a high of 27,377.72 early. Things went south from there as the Dow shed over 170 points to hit a low of 27,204.89 late in the day. It has come off those lows however and is now trading at 27,298.77. The Dax posted some modest gains overnight, following on from the rallies it went through earlier in the week. The German index opened at 12,527.90 and dipped to a low of 12,472.24 early in the session. It basically climbed for the remainder of the day, peaking at 12,576.36 in the final hour of trade, before closing at 12,567.13.

The day ahead is shaping up to be a big one for markets, with the ECB meeting to discuss monetary policy settings. Whilst rates are expected to remain on hold at 0%, there appears to be a growing number of people who are expecting that the ECB will signal future rate cuts as well as expanding their other generous monetary policy settings (bong buying etc). This could be the reason behind a weakening euro and rallying Dax.

Other data published today includes:

UK – CBI Realised Sales

Australia – RBA Governor Philip Lowe speaks

Europe – Monetary Policy Statement, ECB Press Conference, German Ifo Business Climate, Spanish Unemployment Rate

US – Durable & Core Durable Goods Orders, Goods Trade Balance, Prelim Wholesale Inventories, Unemployment Claims, Natural Gas Storage

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