USD

The US dollar is on weak footing after Congress decided to withdraw the healthcare bill, knowing that they didn’t have enough votes to repeal Obamacare.

This deals a huge blow of confidence to the Trump administration as investors start to doubt that they can push the rest of their agenda across. US headline durable goods orders came in stronger than expected with a 1.7% gain versus the projected 1.1% increase while the core figure came in line with estimates of a 0.4% uptick. FOMC member Kaplan has a speech lined up.

EUR

The euro extended its gains against its peers when PMI readings from Germany and France turned out stronger than expected and indicated a faster pace of industry expansion across the board. German Ifo business climate data is due today and an improvement from 111.0 to 111.2 is eyed. 

GBP

The pound was also on strong footing last week after the UK printed strong CPI and retail sales figures. However, BBA mortgage approvals turned out weaker than expected at 42.6K versus 44.9K on Friday. There are no reports due from the UK today and the focus turns to the upcoming Article 50 date on March 29.

CHF

The franc had a mixed performance as it weakened to the yen and euro but advanced against comdolls and the dollar. There were no reports out of the Swiss economy last Friday and none are due today so market sentiment could push franc pairs around, along with country-specific events.

JPY

The yen was still the king of pips at the end of the week as it took advantage of risk-off flows and anti-dollar moves. Japanese manufacturing PMI turned out weaker than expected as it fell from 53.3 to 52.6 versus the 53.5 forecast. There are no reports due from Japan today.

Commodity Currencies (AUD, NZD, CAD)

The comdolls were mostly on weaker footing but managed to regain some ground to the dollar. Canadian CPI readings were mostly unchanged, with the headline figure up 0.2% and the core figure up 0.4%. There are no reports due from the comdoll economies today.

By Kate Curtis from Trader’s Way