USD

The dollar lost ground to its peers once more as the threat of a government shutdown weighed on investor sentiment.

Data also turned out mostly weaker than expected, with housing starts posing a huge drop from 1.30M to 1.19M as the weather-related demand was not sustained. Preliminary UoM consumer sentiment data and inflation expectations are due next, but the focus could be on the funding bill.

EUR

The euro gave up ground once more when the likelihood of a German coalition dropped. There were also no major reports out of the region and today only has the current account balance on tap, which suggests that political updates could determine the shared currency’s direction. Failure by Merkel to strike a coalition could be bearish for the euro.

GBP

The pound held its ground against most of its counterparts despite the lack of top-tier data from the UK. Today has the retail sales report due and a 0.8% decline is eyed, erasing part of the earlier 1.1% increase. Stronger than expected data, however, could prove bullish for the pound.

CHF

The franc was the main beneficiary of risk-off action and dollar weakness, as well as the selloff in the euro. There were no major reports out of the Swiss economy then and none are due today, so sentiment could continue to push franc pairs around.

JPY

The yen also took advantage of dollar weakness but was slightly weaker to the commodity currencies. Japan’s industrial production reading was revised down from 0.6% to 0.5% and there are no reports due today, leaving sentiment and bond yields as potential drivers for yen price action.

Commodity Currencies (AUD, NZD, CAD)

The Aussie drew some support from better then expected jobs data but gave up some of its gains when China’s data failed to impress. Most of the readings came in line with estimates, as fixed asset investment was unchanged at 7.2% instead of falling to 7.1% while industrial production ticked slightly higher. Canadian manufacturing sales is lined up next.

By Kate Curtis from Trader’s Way