Not much on the data docket before North American trading

Comic 22-01

Happy hump day, everyone! Hope you're all doing well as we look to get things going in the session ahead. The new coronavirus (2019-nCoV) outbreak continues to steal most of the headlines amid fear that it may be more widespread internationally.

The timing of the outbreak is a bit unfortunate, with the hectic travel period during the Chinese New Year holidays this week coming up. The real fear is whether or not the infection may turn out to be as impactful as the SARS virus back in 2002-03.

We'll have to see how things develop in the coming days but for now, markets are a bit more composed after the risk-off mood in trading yesterday. Find value in fear.

Looking ahead, there is little on the European data docket to distract from the ebb and flow but later on we'll have Canadian CPI data before the Bank of Canada policy meeting.

0745 GMT - France January business, manufacturing confidence

Prior release can be found here. A general indication of confidence levels towards the French economy. A minor data point.

0930 GMT - UK December public sector debt data

Prior release can be found here. Not much of a relevant release at the moment as the focus for the pound stays on the BOE ahead of the policy meeting next week.

1100 GMT - UK January CBI trends total orders, selling prices

Prior release can be found here. The CBI readings are a survey on manufacturers to rate the level of volume for orders expected during the next 3 months. This will be among the first post-election survey/data (before PMI data on Friday) so let's see if there is any marked improvement in business and economic sentiment.

1200 GMT - US MBA mortgage applications w.e. 17 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 the session ahead. I wish you all the best of days to come and good luck with your trading!