20131015

Good morning,

Trading volumes were lower than average in yesterday's trading session following Columbus Day in the US , lack of important data and a general wait-and-see approach regarding the US talks on the debt ceiling. Stock markets in Europe pointed their nose slightly upward with FTSE100 up 0.3%, CAC40 up 0,1%, while DAX fell 0.01%. In the US, the Dow and S&P both took home 0.4% while the NASDAQ gained 0.6%. In the G10-space FX markets were on pause-mode as well with majors in tight ranges. Industrial Production from the Euro zone was the only interesting data point from Europe, which came out at 1.0% against 0.8% expected.

From the US, it was hinted that a deal could be found before Thursday, which triggered positive mood across the Atlantic and also in Asia with indices on the bid and the JPY on the offer. From Australia, demand for Australian Dollars picked up, after the RBA repeated it retains the option of reducing interest rates. This was less dovish than market players had expected and sent AUD/USD on the bid, pushing above the 38.2% Fibo in April-August and currently above September highs at 0.9528. NZD/USD followed suit and is so far up for the fourth day in a row.

Today, we expect some decent activity as the calendar items from the macro-side could stir things up a bit - focus on the GBP. At 08:30GMT, a string of UK figures will be released, including the CPI, RPI, Core Output Prices as well as the DCLG House Prices. From the Euro zone at 09:00GMT, the ZEW figures will be released. Focus is on the German "Expectations" index, as it shows the forward looking expectations and is hence a leading indicator.

US will post Empire State Manufacturing (exp at 7 vs. 6.3 prior) as the key data point and from Canada, we have the Existing Home Sales for September.

Have a nice day.