By IFCMarkets

The ICE US Dollar index almost did not change. Now futures on US stock indexes are being traded with a slight decrease. Significant macroeconomic statistics is not expected to be published in the United States today.

The activity of market participants was minimal due to the lack of American investors. The British pound strengthened on Monday for the 2nd day in a row due to yet another hope of reaching an agreement on Brexit, as well as due to the publication of good data on retail sales in the UK. European stock index EU 50 updated 4-month high. This was facilitated by good corporate data. The consumer sector company Reckitt Benckiser published a positive quarterly report and its shares rose by 4.6%. Today at 11:00 CET business activity indicators for February will be published in ZEW Germany , production data in construction for the entire Eurozone for December. Later the announcements of two ECB representatives is expected. The data on unemployment for January will be published in the UK.

The Japanese currency showed a slight weakening after the head of the Bank of Japan, Haruhiko Kuroda annonced that the easing of monetary policy could continue. This will happen if excessive strengthening of the yen will hinder the economic development of the country. The Bank of Japan confirmed its inflation target at 2%. Now it is much lower and amounts to 0.3%. Increase of stock index Nikkei slowed amid falling SoftBank shares by 3.3% due to a moderately negative article in the reputable Wall Street Journal. Australian dollar rate slightly decreased after the publication of the materials of the February of the Reserve Bank of Australia meeting. They are marked by economic uncertainty. Investors have decided that this means the possibility of reducing rates to stimulate the economy.

Gold rises in price along with the growth of the US dollar index. Palladium has updated the historical maximum. Investors usually consider precious metals as an alternative to dollar assets and the trend of simultaneous growth is rarely seen.

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