Attention returns to the US with the publication of some crucial economic figures.

Well, it was certainly a volatile night for the euro, with Mario Draghi introducing new stimulatory measures in his last ECB meeting. The pair opened at $1.10089 and remained flat in early to mid-session trading, leading up to the interest rate meeting. There was a quick spike up to $1.10680 before collapsing to lows of $1.09260 soon after the conclusion of the ECB meeting. However, as markets digested the news, the euro then surged to highs of$1.10864 a few hours later. It has come off those highs and is currently trading at $1.10575. The GBPUSD followed a similar path to the euro after opening at $1.23281. The pair traded in a tight range in the first half of the day before falling to lows of $1.22820. Late trading saw the pound rally to highs of $1.23662 before falling away to its current level of $1.23312.

The Dow ended the session making some modest gains overnight. The index started the day at 27,152.27 and climbed to highs of 27,318.14 early, thanks to Donald Trump’s decision to delay tariffs.  The Dow weakened throughout most of the session, bottoming-out at 27,109.18 late. It has come off those lows and now trading at 27,201.30. The Dax opened and closed rather flat overnight but there were some large movements in between. The German index opened at 12,425.56 and declined early, hitting lows of 12,304.69 mid-session. It briefly rallied to a high of 12,473.91 before again falling, this time to a near-session-low of 12,316.77. The Dax bounced off that low and closed at 12,412.79.

The day ahead sees the publication of some crucial economic data from the US. They will be releasing their Retail & Core Retail Sales figures. The expectation for the Core Retail figure is a growth of 0.1% (compared to 1% at the last reading) while the Retail Sales number is expected to show a growth of 0.2% (vs 0.7% at last reading).

Other data published today includes:

China – Bank Holiday

Japan – Revised Industrial Production

Europe – German WPI, European Trade Balance, ECOFIN & Eurogroup Meetings

US – Import Prices, Business Inventories, Prelim Consumer Sentiment & Inflation Expectations

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