On Friday, the US dollar strengthened against a basket of major currencies amid optimism in trade relations between the US and China. As it is known, both countries want to reach a compromise in trade issues. On January 30-31, Vice Premier Liu He should visit Washington. The US dollar index (#DX) updated the two-week high and closed in the positive zone (+0.29). Today, the US financial markets are closed due to the Martin Luther King Day.
On Friday, the British pound weakened against the US dollar after the publication of weak economic reports. Thus, the volume of retail sales in the UK fell by 0.9% in December, while experts expected a decline of 0.8%. Previous data were also revised downward from 1.4% to 1.3%. The core retail sales index counted to 2.6% instead of 3.9%. Today, during the Asian trading session data on China’s GDP (y/y) were published, the figure counted to 6.4% in the fourth quarter, as investors forecasted. Industrial production rose to 5.7% in December instead of 5.3%.
The “black gold” prices are falling. At the moment, futures for the WTI crude oil are testing $53.85 per barrel.
Market Indicators
On Friday, the bullish sentiment was observed in the US stock market: #SPY (+1.33%), #DIA (+1.33%), #QQQ (+0.99%).
The 10-year US government bonds yield is at the level of 2.77-2.78%.
The Economic Calendar for 21.01.2019:
Today, the news feed is fairly calm. The US financial markets are closed due to the Martin Luther King Day.
