Things to watch out for on Wednesday, February 1:
Financial markets were quite volatile on Tuesday as market participants tried to anticipate the upcoming US Federal Reserve meeting. US Federal Reserve US. The US central bank will be the first, but not the last, as the European Central Bank and the Bank of England will follow suit on Thursday.
The dollar rose during the first half of the day helped by risk aversion. Asian stocks got through the day on the wrong foot, while Europeans pared pre-close losses, led by gains on Wall Street. Sentiment improved after the release of US data indicating an easing of inflationary pressures. The Employment Cost Index rose 1% in the last quarter of 2022, below the 1.1% forecast and softening compared to the 1.2% of the previous quarter. The US dollar subsequently gave up its intraday gains, ending the day unevenly on the currency board.
The Canadian dollar was the strongest rival to the USD, helped by firmer oil prices, while the British pound was the weakest. The USD/CAD pair settled near 1.3300, while the GBP/USD pair sits in the 1.2330/40 price zone.
The EUR/USD pair tested the 1.0800 price zone, ending the day around 1.0860. In the Eurozone, the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) fourth quarter showed that the economy grew at an annualized rate of 1.9%, better than the 1.8% expected by financial markets. On a negative note, German Retail Sales fell 5.3% MoM in December, much worse than expected.
Australian data releases earlier in the day were disappointing, with the AUD/USD pair bottoming at 0.6983 during the European session. Subsequently, the pair rallied and ended the day unchanged at the 0.7050 price zone.
The USD/JPY pair was stable, now trading around 130.15.
Gold found buyers around $1,900 and ended the day at $1,929, while crude oil prices posted modest intraday gains and WTI is currently trading at $78.50 a barrel.
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Source: Fx Street
I am Joshua Winder, a senior-level journalist and editor at World Stock Market. I specialize in covering news related to the stock market and economic trends. With more than 8 years of experience in this field, I have become an expert in financial reporting.
