A Few “Light” Releases During the European Session

The start of the new year is slow and steady, with the dollar remaining somewhat mixed but slightly down for the day. It’s still a holiday in some parts of the world, but markets in the US are open, so we might see early moves later in the day. For now, major currencies are showing no significant movements. Here’s a snapshot of the dollar pairs as the European trading session begins:

US and European futures are higher, with S&P 500 futures up by 0.5%. Tech stocks already look set for new highs, having led the way last year. Looking ahead to the session, there will be some economic data to drive the markets. However, the focus will be on the final December PMI manufacturing readings for the Eurozone. These, however, will have a limited impact as they are final estimates.

The US session may offer more later in the day when weekly jobless claims data is released. Although this is the first week of the month, the non-farm payroll report will not be available until next week, on January 10. So, we’ll have to wait a bit for labor market data from the US to kick off the new year.

Here are the releases we’re watching during the European session:

• 09:00 – Nationwide House Price Index for December (UK)
• 10:15 – PMI for Manufacturing for December (Spain)
• 10:45 – PMI for Manufacturing for December (Italy)
• 10:50 – Final PMI for Manufacturing for December (France)
• 10:55 – Final PMI for Manufacturing for December (Germany)
• 11:00 – Final PMI for Manufacturing for December (Eurozone)
• 11:00 – M3 Money Supply for November (Eurozone)
• 11:30 – Final PMI for Manufacturing for December (UK)
• 14:00 – MBA Mortgage Applications for the week ending December 27 (US)