Donald Trump headlines the week, as speeches dominate

Global markets could well be focussed on Donald Trump’s speech on Wednesday as the economic calendar looks a little light of any key data until the end of this week. The president elect’s press conference this week could be hit or miss with Trump very often grabbing headlines and causing controversy during his rallies and with comments on Twitter. This would usually be a non-event for the markets, as political wranglings and press conferences are often ignored by the major markets. However a Donald Trump press conference is not you normal political press conference.

For today’s session we could it will be the rebound in the US dollar and the constant march towards 20,000 for the Dow Jones that will be in focus. Friday saw the Dow get its closest yet to breaking the psychological resistance level stopping just 2 points shy after hitting a high of 19,998. European equity markets have opened slightly weaker this morning after Asian markets unwound some of the gains overnight, but with Dow futures only moderately lower there is still potential for the market to turnaround later this afternoon and have another run at the number.

The US dollar index has shown signs of recovery after Thursday and Friday’s moves lower after breaking back above key levels. The key with any break out is to hold on to the move and not immediately retrace, which is another key consideration for the Dow 20,000. The greenback has been so string over the last couple of months that any pullback was likely to be particularly aggressive, but the move back through the 102 level will be seen as a sign that the rally in the US dollar is still intact, for now.

For today’s session it will be Fed speak that is the dominating force after Eurozone unemployment is posted, with Rosengren, Lockhart and Evans all speaking later today. The obvious headlines from these comments will be anything around the number of Fed rate hikes in 2017, with three hikes still on the table after last week’s hawkish FOMC meeting minutes,