A big end to the week coming up, with focus shifting to the US.

The EURUSD opened at $1.17830 and dipped to a low of $1.17779 in the first hour of the day. It climbed gradually over most of the session, peaking at $1.18636 late in the day. It has come away from those highs and is now trading at $1.18077. The GBPUSD followed a similar path to the euro after beginning the day at $1.30303. The pound edged down to a low of $1.30219 in the opening hour before recovering quickly and rallied to a late high of $1.31244. It gave up some of those gains heading into the close and it is now trading at $1.30564.

The Dow was flat-as-a-tack overnight as it showed little enthusiasm to do anything. The index opened the day at 27,945.41 and ticked up to a high of 28,014.29 early. It traded in a tight range for a large part of the day, slipping to a low of 27,791.44 late. It quickly regained those losses and eventually closed at 27,917.05. It is not far off yesterday’s close, currently trading at 27,937.30. The Dax reversed some of the gains it made during the previous session after starting the day at 13,069.57. The German index bumped up to an opening-hour high 13,087.88 before heading south for the rest of the day. It bottomed-out at 12,916.72 late in the day before closing at 12,960.93. It is now trading at 12,977.40.

The day ahead sees the publication of crucial economic data. The US will be releasing Retail & Core Retail Sales figures later tonight as the country tries to build economic momentum in the second half of the year. Retail Sales are expected to grow by 2%, while Core Retail Sales are tipped to expand by 1.3%.

Other data released today includes:

Canada – Manufacturing Sales

Japan – Tertiary Industry Activity

Europe – European Trade Balance, Flash GDP and Employment Change, French Final CPI, Swiss PPI

China – Retail Sales, Industrial Production, Fixed Asset Investment, Unemployment Rate

US – Prelim Non-Farm Productivity & Unit Labour Costs, Prelim UoM Consumer Sentiment & Inflation Expectations, Industrial Production, Capacity Utilisation Rate

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