07:50am  I had planned to spend a quiet day at home in front of my charts but I’ve been invited out for a clay pigeon shooting day so no trading until tomorrow.

Market Update:

Although U.S. markets are still in a bullish trend, the bullish momentum is slowing as we approach the Federal Reserve’s March rate meeting in a few day’s time. Expectations are close to 100% for a rate rise this month but traders still seem to be sitting on their hands at the moment, waiting to see what the wider reaction will be tomorrow once the FOMC statement is released.  The overnight Asian trading session ended mixed even though there was fairly bullish news out of China regarding industrial production which was higher than expected at +6.3% although retail sales did disappoint at ‘just’ 9.5% – western economies dream of figures like that.

Crude oil is continuing to fall with U.S. WTI Crude now sitting at $48.35, a long way from the highs of $55 that was seen at the end of last month. Worries regarding over production in the U.S. and Russia still weighs heavily on the market and traders are marking time at the moment ahead of this week’s Crude Oil Inventories report on Thursday.

Europe’s trading session is opening cautiously today with concerns over the UK’s Brexit plans that now include a possible Scottish breakaway and there are also Dutch elections that the EU are watching carefully for signs of growing Far-Right dissent.