USD

The US dollar continued to advance against its forex counterparts, thanks to risk aversion extending its stay in the financial markets. 

There have been no major reports out of the US last Friday and none are lined up today, indicating that sentiment might continue to keep the safe-haven US currency supported.

EUR

The euro shed more gains on Friday but was off to a strong start this week. There have been no major reports released from the region last Friday while today has the Italian industrial production report due. Other than that, the euro might carry on with its previous trends after a bit of profit-taking.

GBP

Weaker than expected data from the UK pushed the pound lower at the start of the week, as construction output and industrial production fell short of forecasts last Friday. Manufacturing production was in line with expectations of a 0.4% uptick but the previous month’s reading was downgraded to show a sharper decline. There are no reports due from the UK today.

CHF

The franc gapped lower to the dollar at the start of this trading week, despite the lack of data from Switzerland last week. For today, there are still no major reports lined up from the country, as sentiment might drive franc price action for the meantime.

JPY

Japan started the trading week by releasing a few top-tier reports such as its core machinery orders and PPI. The former showed a better than expected 0.4% decline versus the projected 2.6% tumble while the latter also printed a stronger than expected 0.7% increase.

Commodity Currencies (AUD, NZD, CAD)

The comdolls were off to a weak start after China printed a weaker than expected trade balance today. The reading narrowed from 60.6 billion USD to just 3.1 billion USD in March, reflecting weaker trade activity. This could keep risk sentiment weak for the rest of the day, which might force the comdolls to slide further. In the next Asian trading session, New Zealand will print its NZIER business confidence figure.

By Kate Curtis from Trader’s Way