Focus turns to the US as it releases important economic data late in the session.

The USD strengthened late in the day, sending paired currencies down and ending the session lower. The EURUSD opened the day at $1.21266 and climbed early, peaking at $1.21691 heading into late trading. A sharp sell-off ensued with the euro hitting lows of $1.20942 a short time later. It is currently trading at that level. The GBPUSD showed more resilience than its European counterpart, with the pound ending the session flat. The pair began the day at $1.39012 and marched to a high of $1.39508 heading into mid-session trading. Things went south from there as the pound was sent packing, hitting lows of $1.38682. However, it showed some signs of life as it briefly climbed back up to $1.39337 before closing at $1.39022. It is now trading at $1.38900.

Indices had a rough time of it yesterday, giving up gains made earlier in the week. The Dow started the session at 31,645.91 and lifted to an early high of 31,733.27. Those highs were short-lived as the slide began soon after and resulted in the Dow hitting lows of 31,445.93 late in the day. It is now trading at 31,493.30. The Dax followed the Dow’s lead when it opened at 14,118.24. An early rally to a high of 14,162.17 was met with a decline that lasted for most of the session, leading the German index to hit lows of 14,038.16. It is now trading at 14,055.40.

The day ahead sees markets turn their attention to the US and the release of Retail & Core Retail Sales data. Both figures are expected to show a growth of 1.1% in sales over the previous month.

Other data published today includes:

Canada – CPI, Core, Common, Trimmed and Median CPIs

UK – CPI & Core CPI, PPI Input & Output, RPI, HPI, MPC Member David Ramsden speaks

US – FOMC Meeting Minutes, Capacity Utilisation Rate, Industrial Production, Business Inventories, FOMC Member Thomas Barkin speaks

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