USD

It seems that nothing could stop the U.S. dollar from rallying yesterday when the US economy printed a better than expected retail sales report. Headline consumer spending increased by 0.7% while core retail sales showed a 0.4% increase.

Not even the worse than expected initial jobless claims figure of 368K was enough to derail the dollar’s climb. For today, only the PPI reports are due and these don’t usually have a huge impact on dollar movement. Nonetheless, headline producer prices could stay flat while core PPI could print a 0.1% uptick.

EUR

The euro was unable to sustain its climb against the dollar when the 1.3800 handle held as strong resistance. There were no major reports released from the euro zone and the medium-tier data that was released came in weaker than expected. The region’s industrial production sank by 1.1%, worse than the estimated 0.4% uptick. No major reports are due from the euro zone today, which suggests that it could move sideways for the rest of the day.

GBP

The pound sank deeper against the dollar in yesterday’s trading since there were no top-tier reports to keep the currency afloat. The CB leading index printed a 0.4% improvement but was not enough to boost the pound higher. There are no reports due from the UK today except for MPC member Dale’s speech but this might simply spark small moves.

CHF The franc suffered a bit of a selloff yesterday when the SNB reiterated its pledge to defend the franc peg. However, the currency’s rallies resumed towards the latter trading session. Against the dollar though, the franc had a larger retreat since the US printed strong data. Only the PPI is due from Switzerland today and a 0.3% rebound is eyed, which might help ease deflation concerns.

JPY

The yen had a mixed trading day as the Nikkei posted minor gains and the Japanese currency simply reacted to other currency-specific events. There were no reports released from Japan then and only the revised industrial production figure is due today. No changes are expected from the previous 0.5% estimate.

Commodity Currencies (AUD, NZD, CAD) The comdolls were unable to hold on to their recent gains as dollar strength came back into play yesterday. AUD/USD retreated below the .9000 major psychological level while NZD/USD failed to make a sustained break above .8300. Only the Australian jobs report was released from the comdoll economies yesterday and this came in better than expected.

By Kate Curtis from Trader’s Way