Daily Briefing, May 17 – Market Wrap & Key Economic Events to Trade on Friday

Market Wrap

• During the early Asian trading, the US dollar floated near a two-week high versus its peers, supported by robust US economic figures and a rebound in Treasury yields.
• China’s Communist Party, People’s Daily, printed in an editorial front-page that “the trade war with the United States will only make China stronger and will never bring the country to its knees,” revising the patriotic spirit of past wars.
• During the previous session, gold plunged sharply by 0.8%, its most significant one-day percentage decline in a month after risk sentiment recovered. Moreover, a surprising jump in the Philly Fed Manufacturing Index also weighed on gold prices.

What’s Next?

Looking ahead to today’s session, once again, it’s thin on the ground in terms of significant data releases. However, traders’ focus will remain on the Eurozone’s Consumer Price Index (CPI), ECOFIN Meetings and Prelim UoM Consumer Sentiment from the United States.

Eurozone Inflation Report

Final CPI y/y – Today at 9:00 GMT, the Eurostat is scheduled to release the final CPI figures for the Eurozone. So far, the Eurozone’s economic events haven’t improved much, but the inflation data has shown considerable improvement. Perhaps, it’s due to the rise in energy sector prices which are being passed on to consumers.

Last month in April, the CPI figure was reported as 1.4% which was revised up to 1.7%. Economists are expecting the same number from May.

Final Core CPI y/y – Whereas, the final core CPI is also expected to remain unchanged at 1.2%.

Eurozone ECOFIN Meetings

The Economic and Financial Affairs Council is the Eurozone’s broadest financial decision-making body. The council organizes the economic policies of the 28 member states, and their initiatives and decisions can have a widespread effect on the Eurozone’s economic health.

Why do traders care?
The Ecofin meetings present a chance for forex traders to take advantage of any volatility they investigate, as the value of the Euro could shoot up in the short term if investors think that any given policy will strengthen the currency.

Prelim UoM Consumer Sentiment

The American consumer sentiment remains in highlights as it’s a significant fundamental towards the end of the week. Consumers have been happy, showing a high level of confidence. After a final score of 97.2 in April, the preliminary read for May is expected to show a level of 97.8 points.

Good luck & have a good weekend!