Summary:

• Mixed moods during European session

• US Dollar continues to slide lower

• Bitcoin hovers above a support

With the lack of US session Monday sets for a calm day on the markets. Major benchmarks from the Europe post slight declines. USD continues to slide lower with US Dollar index flirting with 90 handle. So far NZD remains the strongest currency in G10 basket. Gold marches higher towards 2017 highs amid dollar weakness.

The cryptocurrency block was quite calm during the weekend after rising on Friday after the South Korean authorities chose to postpone a trading ban for cryptocurrencies. Nevertheless it does not mean the end of this thread hence digital currencies might become under downward pressure in the near term.

It has not been just a good start for equity markets this year. It’s been explosive. Not only is Wall Street at all time highs but many “risk on” markets are booming as well. At the same time, various indicators are flashing warning signs. For how long could this bull run continue?

European investors seem to be undecided at the beginning of the week as the major stock markets have begun broadly flat. Looking beyond Europe one may notice that the Asian stock markets performed mixed as the Hang Seng erased all its gains made during the session just before the close.

The US dollar had a good start to the previous week, however upbeat moods were spoilt by the news related to China cutting back on the US treasuries purchases. Today things look quite opposite as the greenback is trading by far below its Friday’s close being definitely the weakest currency among its peers in the G10 basket.

As usual Monday is remarkably calm when it comes to macroeconomic releases. Data concerning trade balance from the Eurozone has already been released leaving business confidence from the New Zealand sole relatively important figure in today’s calendar. This week may be particularly interesting for CAD and GBP traders as we have crucial data from UK and Bank of Canada meeting ahead.