Markets are waiting for the new round of US-China trade negotiations

The US dollar index has been growing all last week and has updated a maximum of 6 weeks. Investors viewed it as a currency - a refuge against the backdrop of global trade wars and a slowdown in the global economy. The European Commission lowered its forecast for GDP growth in the Eurozone to 1.3% in 2019 compared with actual growth of 1.9% in 2018. Excluding the UK, the economy of the remaining 27 EU countries in the current year could grow by 1.5%, which is noticeably lower than the growth by 2.1% in 2018. Such weak forecasts contributed to the depreciation of the euro to 1.13 against the US dollar.

Among the global stock indices, the Australian ASX 200 showed a noticeable increase, by almost 3% over the week. The continuing increase in iron ore prices contributed to this. They updated a maximum of 4 and a half years. Among the leaders of the decline for the week are the Japanese Nikkei and the German DAX. Investors fear that the economies of these countries may suffer in the event of a reduction in global trade. In December, Germany’s trade surplus and current account balance was lower than expected. February 14 will be released Germany's GDP for the 4th quarter of last year, which may affect the dynamics of the DAX index and the euro.