This week will be a big one for data as the world begins to get a clearer picture of the economic impacts of the virus.

The USD shows signs of strengthening, pushing paired currencies down. The EURUSD began Friday at $1.08533 and ticked up to a high of$1.08644 in the opening hour of the day. It traded in a narrow range early in the day before falling away mid-session, hitting lows of $1.07720 before regaining some of those losses over late trading. It is now trading at $1.08148. The GBPUSD copped a beating on Friday after opening at $1.23948. The pound edged up to a high of $1.24027 before slipping back to near its opening level and remained steady in early trade. Mid-session trading saw UK’s currency begin its decline, tumbling to lows of $1.22048. It has come off those lows slightly and is now trading at $1.22378.

The Dow ended Friday lower after starting the day at 21,398.85. The index edged up to a high of 21.481.04 in the first hour of the before sliding a few hundred points mid-session. A brief rally saw the Dow reach near-session highs of 21,456.60 before a sell-off late in the day resulted in the index hitting a low of 20,872.44. It opened much higher on Monday and has rallied in early trading. The Dow is now at 21,657.00. The Dax followed the Dow’s lead after beginning the day at 9,551.74. The German index edged lower early before picking up and climbed to a high of 9,610.54 late in the day before falling to lows of 9,422.97 Like the Dow, the Dax has opened much highs and is now trading at 9,738.27.

The week ahead is packed with data, culminating in the publication of CPI figures from the US. This week shapes up and an important one for markets as we see the impacts of government policy to combat the coronavirus continue to filter through. As there is a lag time in people showing symptoms and testing positive to the virus, government measures take around two weeks to start showing any results.

Data published today and the most important this week include:

Today – German Factory Orders, European Sentix Investor Confidence, UK Construction PMI and Housing Equity Withdrawal

Tuesday – RBA Cash Rate and Rate Statement, BoC Business Outlook Survey

Wednesday – OPEC Meetings

Thursday – ECB Monetary Policy Meeting Minutes, US Unemployment Claims, Canadian Employment Change and Unemployment Rate

Friday – US CPI and Core CPI

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