UK retail sales on the agenda in the session ahead

In any case, the focus at the moment is more on the broader market mood. Risk sentiment was rocked earlier by news of Israel striking Iran. But we’re seeing those fears fade slightly after Iran played that all down and doesn’t seem interested to retaliate.

Still, this is all coming just before the weekend. And you can understand if and why traders would decide to lean towards being more safe than sorry. S&P 500 futures are down 0.9% but were down as much as 1.7% earlier when the news first hit. Meanwhile, gold is back down to $2,383 after having hit a high of $2,417 earlier.

In FX, the dollar remains in a comfortable spot on the week amid the push and pull flows. USD/JPY did fall earlier to 153.60 but is now back up to 154.30 ahead of European trading. AUD/USD is down 0.3% to 0.6400 but off earlier lows at least of 0.6362.

Looking to the session ahead, UK retail sales will be on the cards. The estimate is for a slight increase in retail sales in March but keep in mind that this particular trend is still very much persisting in the UK. The data will at least give pound traders something to scrutinise before the weekend.

0600 GMT – Germany March PPI figures0600 GMT – UK March retail sales data

That’s all for the session ahead. I wish you all the best of days to come and good luck with your trading! Stay safe out there.

This article was written by Justin Low at www.forexlive.com.