USD

The US dollar sold off sharply against its forex rivals when the NFP report came in way below expectations. 

The report indicated a mere 142K increase in hiring instead of the projected 201K gain while the previous reports were downgraded to a total of 59K in negative revisions. The jobless rate still held steady at 5.1% as expected but wage growth was absent. The US ISM non-manufacturing PMI is due today and a fall from 59 to 58 is eyed.

EUR

The euro took advantage of dollar weakness and the pickup in risk appetite at the end of the week, even though data from the region came in below consensus. The Spanish unemployment change report showed a 26.1K increase in joblessness versus the projected 17.9K rise and the previous 21.7K increase. Final services PMI readings from the euro zone’s largest economies are due today, along with the Sentix investor confidence index.

GBP

The pound managed to take a break from its recent slide against the dollar on Friday, as the UK construction PMI came in better than expected. The figure climbed from 57.3 to 59.9, reflecting a faster pace of industry expansion in September. For today, the services PMI is due and a rise from 55.6 to 56.4 is expected. This might have a larger impact on pound price action since the services sector contributes more to overall economic growth.

CHF

The franc was able to advance against its forex peers in recent trading, as market participants sought another safe-haven alternative after seeing the dismal US NFP. There were no reports released from Switzerland then and none are due today, keeping the franc sensitive to risk flows.

JPY

The yen gained ground to the dollar on Friday, even though the reports from Japan came in mixed. Household spending picked up by 2.9% year-over-year while the jobless rate increased from 3.3% to 3.4% in the same month. Earlier today, the average cash earnings report showed a weaker than expected rise in wages of 0.5% versus the projected 0.7% figure. 

Commodity Currencies (AUD, NZD, CAD)

The comdolls took advantage of dollar and yen weakness on Friday, as commodities also drew a bit of support as well. Australian retail sales came in line with expectations of 0.4% growth while today’s ANZ job advertisements release showed a 3.9% jump in listings. No other reports are due from the comdolls today, keeping risk sentiment in play.

By Kate Curtis from Trader’s Way