A big day coming up for traders, with focus once again centred around economic data emanating from Australia.

The USD strengthened overnight, pushing paired currencies down. The EURUSD began the day at $1.19358 and shot up to $1.19968 early and maintaining those levels throughout mid-session trading. Another quick spike saw the euro hit a high of $1.20107 before falling late in the day, giving up its earlier gains. The pair hit lows of $1.19002 shortly before the close and is now trading at $1.19157. The GBPUSD opened the day at $1.33679 and slipped to lows of $1.33553 early. The pound rallied off those lows, powering to a high of $1.34822 heading into late-session trading. However, it fell from those highs late in the day and is now trading at $1.33912.

The Dow clawed back a large portion of losses it sustained in the previous session after opening at 28,399.00. The index climbed to 28,568.15 and then fell to lows of 28,285.20 mid-session. It bounced off those lows, rallying to a high of 28,679.90 late in the day. That momentum has continued into Wednesday and the Dow is currently trading at 28,736.30. The Dax opened and closed rather flat after starting the day at 12,948.28. The German index lifted early and a short, sharp spike saw it hit highs of 13,126.16. Those highs were not maintained for any significant length of time, with the Dax eventually falling to lows of 12,846.16. It regained some of those losses and closed at 12,993.74. It has opened Wednesday higher and is now trading at 13,055.00.

The day ahead sees the release of critical economic data from Australia in the form of quarterly GDP figures. Australia is expected to officially enter a recession as the economy is tipped to contract by 6% – a figure not seen since the great depression. This comes on the back of a contraction of 0.3% in the March quarter. The only thing that could save the country from going into a technical recession (two consecutive quarters of economic contraction) is if the March quarter figures are incorrect and are revised up to at least 0%.

Other data published today includes:

Canada – Labour Productivity

UK – HPI, Nationwide HPI BoE Governor Andrew Bailey and MPC Member Ben Broadbent speak

Europe – German Retail Sales, Spanish Unemployment Change, PPI

US – ADP Non-Farm Employment Change, Crude Oil Inventories, Factory Orders, Beige Book, FOMC Members John Williams and Loretta Mester speak

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