RBA minutes eyed

February 18, 2020

Australia’s central bank is in focus as it publishes the minutes from its latest interest rate meeting.

The EURUSD continues to languish around $1.08, while it is beginning to toy with the prospect of falling even further. The pair began the week at $1.08378 and traded in a tight range early before edging up to a high of $1.08506 mid-session. It fell away from those highs, hitting lows of $1.08285 late in the day. It has come off those lows and is now trading at $1.08347. The GBPUSD gave up more of its recent gains overnight after opening the week at $1.30272. The pound shot up to a high of $1.30531 shortly after the open and stayed near those highs over the following several hours. Late trading saw the pound slide to lows of $1.29974. It is now trading at $1.30057.

The Dow traded in shortened session due the President’s Day public holiday. It started the week at 29,430.30 and dipped to an early low of 29,413.10 before rebounding and peaking at 29,492.25 a few hours later. The index traded in a tight range for the rest of the session, closing at 29,467.67. It has opened Tuesday quite lower, which may have caught some traders off guard. It is now sitting at 29,366.00. The Dax was flat in Monday trading in a steady start to the week. The German index opened at 13,771.23 and slipped to lows of 13,750.40 in the first hour of the week. It bounced off that low, climbing to a high of 13,808.65 a few hours later. It ebbed and flowed for the rest of the session before closing at 13,784.64.

The day ahead is relatively light-on for data but there is still some significant pieces of information to be released. Australia’s central bank, the RBA, is set to publish the minutes of its latest interest rate meeting. This could bring volatility as it gives a more detailed outlook of the economy the RBA’s perspective.

Other data published today includes:

Canada – Manufacturing Sales

Australia – CB Leading Index

UK – Average Earnings Index, Claimant Count Change, Unemployment Rate

Europe – German & European ZEW Economic Sentiments, ECOFIN Meetings

US – NAHB Hosing Market Index, TIC Long-Term Purchases, Empire State Manufacturing Index FOMC Member Neel Kashkari speaks

 

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