A preview of what's to come in the European trading session today

Howdy, everyone! Hope you're all having a good day so far. Markets have been a little lively as we had Australian Q4 CPI numbers moving the aussie and the kiwi early on, then we had the Japanese bond purchases which weakend the yen a little (I warned on that yesterday).

And we're also seeing cryptocurrencies take a hit following the Tether fears - and also Facebook banning cryptocurrency-related ads if you want to count that as a reason.

Anyway, it's another packed calendar today so let's dive right into it:

0700 GMT - Germany December retail sales data

Prior figures can be found here. A minor data point on the day, just a general sentiment indicator of Eurozone consumers. The y/y reading is expected at +2.8%.

0700 GMT - Switzerland December UBS consumption indicator

Prior reading can be found here. A relatively minor data point as this is a signal of private consumption trends in the Swiss economy. It is derived from six consumer-related parameters: new car registrations, business activity in the retail sector, the number of domestic overnight hotel stays by Swiss residents, the consumer sentiment index, employment figures and credit card transactions made via UBS at points of sale in Switzerland.

0745 GMT - France January preliminary CPI figures

0745 GMT - France December PPI figures

Prior figures can be found here. Not one that holds a lot of weight compared to the Germany data yesterday, but still one to watch out for as we have the Eurozone preliminary inflation readings later.

0855 GMT - Germany January unemployment rate/change

Prior figures can be found here. Unemployment rate was at a record low last month, so let's see if the lower trend continues. Overall, a minor data point but one that reflects optimism in the Eurozone since the labour market has been rather solid recently.

0900 GMT - Italy December unemployment rate

Prior reading can be found here. A minor data point.

0900 GMT - Switzerland January Credit Suisse investor sentiment

Prior reading can be found here. There was a big jump last month, and the uptrend has been continuing since 2015. Let's see if sentiment continues to improve. A minor data point though.

1000 GMT - Eurozone January preliminary CPI figures

Prior figures can be found here. The big one on the day. Core inflation is expected to come in at +1.0% y/y, compared with the +0.9% earlier. Inflation readings will be key to watch out for this year as the ECB looks to take steps towards tightening monetary policy.

1200 GMT - US MBA mortgage applications w.e. 26 January

Weekly US housing data, measures the change in number of applications for mortgages backed by the MBA during the week. Not the biggest of data points, but a general indicator of the housing sector sentiment.

That's all for today. Quite a number of data points but Eurozone CPI will be the one to watch out for. Also, we have ECB members Philip Lane and Coeure speaking in Dublin at 0855 GMT and 0950 GMT at the European Financial Forum - so look out for that too.

Anyway, hope you all have a great day ahead and as always, good luck with your trading!

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