Summary:

• European stock markets are gaining momentum across the board
• Oil prices are falling 1% in anticipation of the OPEC’s meeting on Thursday
• USD is slightly stronger along with the NZ dollar, Scandinavian currencies remain on the back foot

European stock markets have risen so far irrespective of falling oil prices as traders, investors and economists await the OPEC’s meeting due on Thursday. Taking a brief look at the European equity markets one can notice that the British FTSE100 (UK100 on xStation5) is decisively the best one gaining 0.6% while its major peers are trading higher as well (gains range from 0.3% to 0.6%). Keep in mind that European investors are buying stocks despite somewhat downbeat sentiment in Asia, although many of them hope that the US tax reform will be pushed forward by the Senate where Republicans hold just a slim majority (the voting is forecast to take place on Thursday).

The Asian session was relatively mild as there were no substantial moves across the FX space except the NZ dollar which is still gaining momentum (+0.17% against the greenback at the time of writing). The is no reason standing behind kiwi’s strength, however there are rumors that the currency is grinding higher in anticipation of the Financial Stability report due on Wednesday along with a speech from Finance Minister Robertson early on Friday. Beside the kiwi the US dollar is trading higher as well, in turn the Scandinavian currencies have been hit hard as the SEK got a blow from the lackluster retail sales report.

Cryptocurrency traders have had a hectic period of time of late as major digital currencies have seen astounding increases and many of them have been able to establish their new all-time peaks. However, along with the rising price of Bitcoin (it’s trading above $9,800 at the time of writing) there are more and more uncertainties and assumptions with regard to where to price could go further.

Tuesday’s calendar is full of interesting market events. One of the most important should be a confirmation hearing of Fed chair nominee Jerome Powell in the US Congress. Moreover, investors will pay attention to results of Conference Board Consumer Confidence Index and API report on changes in oil inventories as we are getting closer to long-awaited OPEC meeting.