The US dollar posted strong gains amid a risk on sentiment which saw the safe-haven assets losing ground. Meanwhile, commodities such as gold and silver extended strong declines on the day.
Economic data was relatively quiet on Monday. Eurozone Sentix investor confidence improved, with the index rising to -2.2, beating estimates of -3.1. In the UK, construction PMI fell to 49.5, marking a contraction in the sector.
The NY trading session saw the release of construction spending which posted a decline of 0.6%. This was worse than the forecast of 0.2% and dropped from 0.8% in the month before.
The Reserve Bank of Australia held its monetary policy meeting earlier today. As widely expected, the central bank left interest rates unchanged at 1.50%. The decision to leave rates unchanged comes ahead of key economic reports due later during the week.
The European trading session will kick off today with IHS Markit releasing the monthly services PMI reports. Expectations are for the eurozone services PMI to remain steady at 52.3, but we can expect the Italian and French services sectors to post a contraction.
As for the UK’s services PMI, expectations are for a decline to the 50.0 level on the index. This marks a modest drop in activity from 50.1 in January. Forecasts indicate that retail sales for the eurozone may show an increase of 1.3% after they fell 1.6% in the month before.
The NY trading session will see the release of ISM’s services PMI report. The non-manufacturing activity is expected to rise to 57.4 in February, up from 56.7 in January. Later in the day, the BoE governor, Mark Carney is scheduled to speak.
