UK to release GDP figures today
The big story of the day so far is that the kiwi is hammered lower by the RBNZ, while the central bank has almost doubled its quantitative easing program while reaffirming that negative rates are not on the table when ‘These are future political decisions.
This drops the kiwi, the NZD / USD dropping from an initial peak at 0.6098 to a low of 0.6008. The other major currencies traded more modestly in tight ranges after risky trades retreated to night trading amid US-Chinese concerns.
The mood for risk remains lukewarm at the moment, but with a certain fear that is settling on the market, equities are struggling to manage so far this week in a milder climate as well as key technical levels which still hold (still looking at the 61.8 retracement level on the S&P 500).
0600 GMT – Preliminary UK figures for Q1 GDP
0600 GMT – UK trade balance data in March
0600 GMT – UK monthly GDP data for March
0600 GMT – UK manufacturing, industrial and construction production in March
0900 GMT – Industrial production data for March of the euro zone
1100 GMT – US MBA mortgage applications w.e. May 8
Weekly US housing data measure the change in the number of MBA-supported mortgage applications over the week. Not the largest of the data points, but a general indicator of sentiment in the housing sector.