Indices:Â Last week offered interesting data coming from the financial statements of most of the banking institutions in the US, however, almost no significant changes in the main US stock indices. The weakest results were reported by Citigroup (C) whose shares lost almost 5% for the week, while Morgan Stanley (MS) was on the opposite side of the stick, with its shares jumping by 7% last week.
In Europe, the indices experienced a far better week. Germany’s DAX30 registered a new record-high, climbing by 2.22% and closing at about 300 points below the psychological level of 10,000. Spain’s IBEX last quote was at 10,451, with a weekly appreciation by 1.63%, while Italy’s S&P/MIB closed at 19,964, or a 1.94% increase.
Forex
After its weak performance the week before, the greenback rose against most of its major currency counterparts. Losses were reported by the EUR/USD (139 pips), the GBP/USD (75 pips) and the AUD/USD (223 pips), while the USD/JPY registered a minimal increase by 20 pips. Subsequently, March futures of the Dollar Index (DX0314) were up by 0.77% to close at $81.35.
Commodities
On the commodities market, the most traded metals took an upward trend for a fourth consecutive week. Gold (XAUUSD) closed at $1,254 per troy ounce, or 0.53% weekly rise. Silver ((XAGUSD) also coloured the weekly chart green, adding 0.85% to its value and reaching $20.33 per troy ounce.
What to expect this week?
This week is also set for big releases, with New Zealand’s Consumer Price Index for Q4 (YoY and QoQ) left to be announced on Monday. Tuesday will feature the ZEW survey on January Economic sentiment for both the Eurozone and Germany as well as Australia’s Consumer Confidence, also for January.
See how to trade the ZEW index with EUR/USD
Wednesday will set the start of the annual World Economic Forum in Davos (22-25 January), with other events in-between, including  Australia’s Consumer Price Index for Q4 (YoY and QoQ), the Bank of Japan Interest Rate decision, the Bank of England Meeting Minutes along with the country’s unemployment data, as well as the Bank of Canada Interest Rate decision. Thursday’s highlights will be the Preliminary Release of China’s manufacturing PMI for January, the Preliminary Release of Markit Manufacturing and Services PMI for January of both the Eurozone and Germany, and the US Initial Jobless Claims. Friday’s main entries will be the UK’s Mortgage Approvals for December and the Bank of Canada Consumer Price Index, also for December (YoY and MoM).
Outside of the economic calendar, the next portion of financial statements is due for release, including Johnson & Johnson (JNJ), Verizon (VZ) and International Business Machines (IBM) on Tuesday, tech giant Netflix (NFLX) on Wednesday, and Microsoft (MSFT), McDonald’s (MCD), and Starbucks (SBUX) on Thursday.
