USD
The US dollar staged a good rally against most of its counterparts last week on tax reform progress and a bit of risk aversion.
The US economy added 228K jobs in November according to the NFP report, higher than the projected 198K figure. Average hourly earnings turned out weaker than expected, with a downgrade in the earlier report to boot. There are no major reports due today, leaving traders to price in expectations ahead of the FOMC decision and top-tier data releases, such as CPI and retail sales, later this week.
EUR
The shared currency was able to hold on to its gains and go for a few more on Friday, even as medium-tier data turned out mixed. The German trade balance showed a smaller than expected surplus but French industrial production saw a 1.9% gain instead of the projected 0.1% dip. Only the Italian retail sales is due today.
GBP
The pound was able to stage a strong rally before pulling back as the Brexit deal was announced. There are still plenty of questions left unanswered, but it seems that the deal was able to provide some reassurance. UK manufacturing and industrial production simply came in line with expectations. There are no major reports due from the UK today so the focus could remain on Brexit negotiations.
CHF
The franc regained ground on Friday as risk aversion stayed in play. There were no major reports out of the Swiss economy then and none are due today, so risk sentiment could continue to push franc pairs around.
JPY
The yen was in a weak spot as most traders placed their safe-haven bets on the dollar instead. Reports from Japan over the weekend were also in the red, with the BSI manufacturing index falling short of the estimated gain to 10.1. Preliminary machine tool orders are due next.
Commodity Currencies (AUD, NZD, CAD)
The comdolls had a mixed run as they fell to the dollar but advanced to most of their other counterparts. Over the weekend, Chinese PPI reportedly sank from 6.9% to 5.8% as expected while CPI fell short of estimates. There are no reports due from the comdoll economies today.
By Kate Curtis from Trader’s Way
