Forex: Forex trading was sluggish during the past week, with the most popular EUR/USD pair reporting a modest one-pip change for the period – something quite rare.
On the other hand, the GBP/USD chart movement was more significant, with the pair rising by 127 pips and closing at 1.6142 pips on Friday.
Elsewhere, both the AUD/USD and USD/JPY registered declines by 95 and 110 pips, respectively.
Indices
The most interesting event of the past week came at its very end. The little-expected failure of the debt-ceiling talks in the US, which became clear on Sunday, led to a decline on the stock markets this morning. Wall Street was coloured in red at the end of last week, as if expecting the worst-case scenario about the country’s debt. The S&P500 closed at 1,692 points, or a 1.05% decrease, while the Dow ended the period with a 1.41% fall to 15,252 points. The technological Nasdaq100 was the only one to register a positive performance, albeit with a modest, 0.10% increase. This morning the leading US indices lost another 1% of their value, triggered by concerns about a possible government shutdown.
On the European markets, there was no significant change in chart movements in the past days. Germany’s DAX30 rose by 0.12%, France’s CAC40 lost an almost-unnoticeable 0.08%, while Spain’s IBEX increased by 0.59%. At the opening bell this morning, however, a serious sell-off by investors is visible, mainly due to worrying news from the US, prompting losses of about 1-1.5%.
Commodities
On the commodities market, trading in silver and gold was also in a tight range. Gold (XAU/USD) ended the period at $1336 per troy ounce, or a 0.53% increase for the week. Silver (XAG/USD) closed at $21.72, or a 0.28% fall for same period. US oil futures for November delivery (WTI1113) reported a second consecutive week of decline and lost more than $2 of their value, closing at $102.64 per barrel on Friday.
What to expect this week?
Along with a rather “blossoming” economic calendar for this week, the period is starting with a big question mark about the possible US government shutdown. If Congress fails to reach a last-minute agreement about next year’s spending, there is an actual risk for the US government to partially stop working, which in turn will delay all data set for publishing this week. The political situation in Italy also took a worrying turn as it became clear that Silvio Berlusconi’s political party withdrew its support from Enrico Letta’s government. It is expected that Mr Letta will call for a vote of confidence on Wednesday, with no guarantee for a positive outcome of the situation.
On the economic calendar front, Monday is due to produce the UK’s Mortgage Approvals for August, the Eurozone Consumer Price Index for September, and Japan’s Unemployment Rate for August. Tuesday will see lots of published data coming from China’s Manufacturing PMI for September, the Reserve Bank of Australia Interest Rate decision, as well as the Markit Manufacturing PMI for Spain, Italy, France, Germany, Greece, and the Eurozone for September. The US will also release its ISM Manufacturing PMI for October. Wednesday’s highlights will be Australia’s Building Permits for September and Trade Balance for August, the UK’s PMI Construction for September, the ECB Interest Rate decision followed by President Mario Draghi’s press conference and the US Mortgage Applications.
Thursday’s main entries will be coming from China’s Non-manufacturing PMI for September, the Markit PMI Services for Spain, Italy, Germany, France, UK, and the Eurozone, also for September. Friday will be closing the trading week with the Bank of Japan’s Interest Rate decision, the US Non-farm Payrolls for September, along with the country’s Unemployment Rate, also for September.
Source: dfmarkets.co.uk