During yesterday's trading, the US dollar weakened against the majors. The dollar index closed the trading session in the negative zone (-0.37%). Implementation of the tax reform in the US has faced some difficulties. The draft law, which was developed in the US Senate, is somewhat different from the draft law of the House of Representatives. Investors are afraid that disagreements in the draft laws may slow the adoption of the tax reform. Additional pressure on the American currency was provided by weak statistics on the labor market. Over the past week, the number of initial jobless claims increased by 10,000 to 239,000. Nevertheless, the US dollar tends to grow relative to the major currencies.
Today, the key event will be the publication of the report on the volume of production in the manufacturing industry in the UK. We also recommend paying attention to the government bond yield and keeping track of current information on the tax reform in the United States.
At the moment, the "black gold" prices are consolidating. Futures for the WTI crude oil are being traded in the range of $57.00- $57.10 per barrel. Investors expect statistics on drilling activity from Baker Hughes at 20:00 (GMT+2:00).
Market Indicators
Yesterday, the major US stock indices closed in the negative zone: SPDR S&P 500 (NYSE:SPY) (-0.36%), SPDR Dow Jones Industrial Average (NYSE:DIA) (-0.31%), PowerShares QQQ Trust Series 1 (NASDAQ:QQQ) (-0.52%).
The 10-year US government bond yield demonstrates positive dynamics. At the moment the indicator is at the level of 2.37-2.38%.
Today, we recommend you to pay attention to the following economic reports:
- Production in the manufacturing industry in the UK at 11:30 (GMT+2:00);
- Indices of expectations and moods of consumers from the University of Michigan at 17:00 (GMT+2:00).