A hot and cold start to the new year is making it tough to get a read on markets. European stocks have arguably been the more straightforward gainers, helped out by softer inflation figures from Germany and France this week. The DAX is fast approaching its 100-week moving average at 14,578 again so that will be one to watch out for.
There was also a notable bounce in USD/JPY back above 132.00 as buyers reject the test of the 130.00 level this week. That's a stern message to sellers that they are not down for the count just yet, and is why it's always best to only trade on a firm break of key levels. For most dollar pairs, the push and pull has made things more sideways more than anything else.
We might just have to wait for broader markets to get settled in before trying to make sense of the flows and the underlying theme to start the new year. The US non-farm payrolls data tomorrow will at least provide some help with that, hopefully. If not, then surely next week's US inflation data.
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