Today's Market Themes: Lower Chinese forecasts weigh on mood, services data awaits

Yohay Elam FXStreet

What you need to know today:

Chinese Premier Li Keipand announced a growth target of 6-6.5%, another downgrade after the 6.6% level in 2018, the lowest in 28 years. The news weighs on the market mood.
Optimism prevails on reaching a trade deal between the US and China, but this is mostly priced in.
Brexit negotiations continue in Brussels with UK Brexit Secretary Barclay and Attorney General Cox meeting Chief EU Negotiator Barnier.
Bank of England Governor Mark Carney will testify about Brexit, inflation, and the economy.
Services PMI data is due all over the world with the US ISM Manufacturing PMI standing out. A minor bounce is projected in the forward-looking gauge for the largest sector, which also serves as a hint toward the Non-Farm Payrolls. Services PMI preview
The Reserve Bank of Australia left rates unchanged but made a dovish shift, weighing on the Aussie.

Euro-zone:

French President Emmanuel Macro called for a "renaissance" for the 19-country bloc as it limps from crisis to crisis.
Euro-zone services PMI data are projected to show that Italy and France suffer from a contraction in these sectors, while Germany and Spain are doing well.
The Sentix Investor Confidence beat expectations but remained in negative territory at -2.2 points.

UK:

The Services PMI is forecast to show stagnation in the UK's largest sector amid Brexit uncertainty.
The Construction PMI slipped to 9.5 points, indicating contraction.
The eurosceptic European Research Group faction in the Conservative Party has hired a group of top lawyers to examine any changes to the Brexit deal.

US:

Boston Fed President Eric Rosengren will speak later in the day.
House Democrats have launched a broad investigation in President Trump's dealings, asking for documents from 81 people, including the President's sons.
Construction Spending disappointed with a drop of 0.6% in December. This is expected to push GDP estimates lower.

China:

The Caixin Services PMI disappointed with 51.5 points.

Australia:

RBA Governor Lowe will speak about the housing market at the wake of the Asian session.
Australian GDP is set to bounce but remain below the Q1 and Q2 levels.

Author

Yohay Elam

FXStreet

Yohay is in Forex since 2008 when he founded Forex Crunch, a blog crafted in his free time that turned into a fully-fledged currency website later sold to Finixio.

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