Hello traders, welcome to Thursday. Today, all eyes are focused on the highly anticipated inflation data from the US, expected to come in at 2.3% on a yearly basis and 0.1% monthly. While we expect the market to remain relatively calm ahead of the release, the data should inject some volatility once published. Yesterday, the FOMC meeting minutes were released, showing that Federal Reserve members are confident in the current economic outlook for the US. They do not foresee any immediate contraction risks and consider the outlook to be healthy.
On the currency front, we’re seeing a small bullish correction on the Australian dollar (AUD) and New Zealand dollar (NZD), which were both quite weak recently. The US dollar remains strong, bolstered by last week’s strong non-farm payrolls data. On the weaker side, we have the Japanese Yen and currencies from Central Europe, including the Polish Zloty, Hungarian Forint, and Czech Crown.
In the commodities market, precious metals remain weak, particularly silver, while gold, despite being near long-term highs, shows some short-term weakness. Oil has seen a decline over the past two days, and while there is a small bullish correction today, the short-term sentiment remains negative. The big chart story today is the S&P 500 reaching new all-time highs, having broken out of a pennant formation to the upside. Other indices also had a positive day, with the market sentiment leaning toward optimism. Be sure to watch for the US inflation data later today, which will be the key market mover.