Monday's session was expected to be rather dull and uneventful on the FOREX, yet it turned out to be one of the most volatile trading days in hours, with the '$-Index' rebounding by +0.2% to around 97.10.
This rebound was not necessarily "anticipated" by traders, but the Dollar gained 0.17% against the Euro (1.1850), 0.25% against the Swiss Franc (0.7695), and it was primarily the -0.55% drop in the Yen that made the difference (the $ climbing back to around 153.50).

In contrast, the session was soporific in equities: Euro-Stoxx50 slipped by -0.1% on virtually nonexistent volumes, MSCI World down -0.05%, but CAC40 edged up +0.06%... trading was transparent in the bond market.

This stagnation and general lack of activity resulted from the absence of American operators (Presidents' Day), Canadians (Family Day), Chinese, Koreans (Golden Week), and South Americans (half the countries celebrating Carnival): it was the day of the year with the fewest open markets, aside from Christmas.

On the data front, there was no reaction from the Euro following this morning's release of seasonally adjusted industrial production in the eurozone for December (down -1.4%): a "delayed" snapshot of the economic situation.
Production also contracted, though less sharply, in the European Union between November and December: -0.8%.

We will have to wait until tomorrow for the release of the ZEW index in Germany (a leading monthly indicator of economic sentiment) and the Empire State index across the Atlantic (measuring manufacturing activity in the state of New York).