Economic calendar: World leaders meet in Davos

Summary:

• UK labour market report to be released in the morning

• German ZEW forecasted to show another negative reading

• World Economic Forum in Davos kicks off today

A few interesting events are scheduled for today with the launch of World Economic Forum in Davos being the major one. Political leaders as well as entrepreneurs will discuss some of the major issues the world is coping with now. Apart from that, investors will be served ZEW economic sentiment index and the UK labour market report.

9:30 am GMT - Labour market report for November from the United Kingdom. Yesterday’s address by the Prime Minister Theresa May did little to ease uncertainty surrounding Brexit. Having said that, the pound is likely to be more responsive to Brexit headlines rather than to hard data. Nevertheless, today’s labour market report may be a trigger for some short-term price swings. Both, average earnings including and excluding bonuses, are seen remaining unchanged at 3.3% YoY. The unemployment rate is seen staying in tact at 4.1%.

10:00 am GMT - ZEW Economic Sentiment for January. The German ZEW index has been painting worrying picture of the Europe’s biggest economy for the past few months. German investment professionals are growing worried and there are little signs of these concerns fading anytime soon. January’s reading is expected to be another negative reading with market consensus point to -18.4 pts.

World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland (Tuesday-Friday)

The annual meeting of global elites in the Swiss ski resort begins today. One may expect headlines from Davos to surface throughout the remainder of the week and depending on views expressed by World’s leading politicians these may impact valuations on the markets. On the guest list one can find persons like Angela Merkel, Shinzo Abe or Alibaba’s leader. However, a number of domestic issues around the World caused some of the most prominent politicians to cancel their trips to Switzerland, including Donald Trump, Theresa May, Emmanuel Macron or Xi Jinping.

Major US companies reporting earnings today:

• Travelers Cos Inc (TRV.US)

• Johnson & Johnson (JNJ.US)

• International Business Machines (IBM.US)

EURUSD continues to pull back after failing to break above the 200-day moving average (purple line on the chart above). The main currency pair may be set to test the lower limit of the trading range around 1.13 handle. Source: xStation5