Forex: On the Forex market, ECB President Mario Draghi press conference in Amsterdam proved to be the most interesting event. Mr Draghi commented that ECB officials are unanimous around the idea of future comprehensive asset-purchases and even further lowering of the interest rate in order to improve and stabilise inflation levels, which at the moment are dangerously plummetting.
Despite the stated policy intentions, the EUR/USD remained stable and closed at 1.3833 on Friday, with a minimum rise of 20 pips.
Indices
The leading US indices reported a relatively quiet week, with minimal chart changes. The lack of important economic news led investors to look more closely at the Ukraine crisis and the US earnings season. Better-than-expected results came from industry heavyweights like Facebook (FB), Google (GOOG), Verizon (VZ) and Apple (AAPL), whose shares rose by more than 7%. However, markets remained relatively unimpressed.
Given the sluggish trading in the US, European indices also had minimal changes, and despite a positive start at the beginning of the week, tension in Ukraine put more pressure on stock prices and the initial gains were quickly erased.
Commodities
There was increased demand for gold and silver on the commodities markets in the recent days. The need for safe assets amid looming political and economic concerns in Eastern Europe caused a rise in precious metal prices by 0.59% (gold) and 0.39% (silver). On the other end of the spectrum were the US oil futures for June delivery (WTI0614), which fell by 3.69% to close at $100.61 per barrel on Friday.
What to expect this week?
This week promises some interesting events on the economic calendar. The rest of Monday will see the US Pending Home Sales for March (YoY and MoM) and the New Zealand Trade Balance for March (YoY and MoM). Tuesday’s focus will centre on Germany’s Gfk Consumer Confidence Survey for May, the Preliminary Release of UK’s GDP for Q1 (QoQ and YoY), the Eurozone Economic Sentiment Indicator and Consumer Confidence (both for April), the Preliminary Release of Germany’s Consumer Price Index for April (MoM and YoY), and the UK’s Gfk Consumer Confidence for April. Wednesday will be bustling with events, including: the Bank of Japan’s Interest Rate Decision and Monetary Policy Statement, Germany’s Retail Sales for March (YoY and MoM) along with the country’s unemployment rate for April, the Preliminary release of the Eurozone Consumer Price Index for April, the Preliminary Release of the US GDP for Q1 Annualised and the Fed’s Interest Rate decision. As many countries celebrate Labour Day on Thursday, the highlights will come from the UK Markit Manufacturing PMI for April, along with the country’s Consumer Credit and Mortgage Approvals – both for March, the US Initial Jobless Claims and ISM Manufacturing PMI for April, as well as Japan’s unemployment rate for March. Friday will see Germany’s Markit Manufacturing PMI for April, the UK’s Construction PMI, also for April, US Nonfarm Payrolls and Unemployment rate – both for April.
Outside the economic calendar, the US earnings season continues to play an important role on the charts, with new wave of financial statements due for release this week, including:Twitter (TWTR), LinkedIn (LNKD), eBay (EBAY), Time Warner (TWX), MasterCard (MA), and Kraft Group (KRFT).
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