Yesterday was a manufacturing and services day, with the PMI reports being released from Europe and the US. In the Eurozone, services came out of contraction, with the activity stagnating in January which is positive, however manufacturing dived further in recession, owing to a deterioration in the German manufacturing activity last month.

In the UK it was a similar situation, with services improving while manufacturing deteriorated further, falling deeper in recession. In the US it was the opposite, with manufacturing coming out of contraction, while services activity slowed somewhat, but remained in expansion. Besides that, the unemployment claims came closer to 200K.

Overall, the dollar movement was influenced by various factors, including the Fed’s stance on rate hikes, the stock market performance and economic data releases. Despite dismal economic statistics from Germany, EUR/USD remained unaffected. Meanwhile, a stronger oil inventory report and a slight increase in December retail sales supported the Canadian dollar, while the Australian dollar experienced little change after a volatile trading session.

Today’s Market Expectations

Today the economic calendar is pretty light, however we’ll see if the surge in the stock market will continue, which will also keep the risk sentiment positive in broader financial markets. The German Final GDP for Q4 is expected to remain unchanged at -0.3%, while the German Ifo Business Climate is expected to show a slight improvement from 85.2 points to 85.5.

The ECOFIN meetings from the finance ministers of the Eurozone countries will also take place today, followed by the Belgian NBB Business Climate which is expected to improve marginally. The Corporate Profits from Canada for Q4 will also be released later in the US session.

Ethereum Remains Close to the $3,000 Level

Over the last several weeks, Ethereum has seen a notable upsurge with the trade volume is rising, indicating a high level of demand. On Tuesday, buyers of ETH/USD drove the price beyond $3,000, but on Wednesday we witnessed another decline below this mark. Buyers are still in control, though, because the price remained close to this major zone.

Ethereum – 240 minute chart

• ETH Buy Signal
• Entry Price: $2,290
• Stop Loss: $2,590
• Take Profit: $1,750