USD
The US dollar lost ground to some of its major counterparts in yesterday’s trading as the US Q1 2013 final GDP figure suffered a huge downward revision from 2.4% to just 1.8%.
This led market participants to worry that the US economy would do even worse when the stimulus measures are reduced. Up ahead, the core PCE price index and personal income and spending data are due. The Fed is watching inflation closely and it is rumored that the core PCE price index is their preferred measure. Meanwhile, the consumer sector is seen to be the backbone of growth in the US so improved personal spending and income figures could provide support for the dollar.
EUR
The euro weakened again in yesterday’s trading, as ECB President Draghi reiterated that the ECB is ready to adjust monetary policy if necessary. However, the GfK consumer climate did show an improvement from 6.5 to 6.8, showing that consumer confidence is still doing well in euro zone’s largest economy. For today, the biggest mover on euro zone’s schedule is the German unemployment change report which could show a 7K increase in joblessness. This is lower than the previous 21K rise in unemployment, suggesting that there is some recovery in the German labor market.
GBP
The pound sold off heavily against its counterparts when the BOE financial stability report showed that there is a huge danger posed by the volatility in bond yields. Apparently, the central bank believes that this points to a potential increase in borrowing costs, which would make mortgages more expensive. In addition, the UK government announced a fresh batch of spending cuts in its recent spending review. An additional 11.5 billion GBP in austerity measures, which includes the removal of the automatic annual salary increase for public sector workers and caps on welfare spending, would be implemented starting 2015. Current account and final GDP figures are due from the UK today.
CHF
The Swiss franc continued to weaken against the Greenback, as USD/CHF broke above the .9400 handle. Only the SNB quarterly bulletin is on tap from Switzerland today and it isn’t likely to cause a huge move among franc pairs.
JPY
The yen regained strength against most of its major counterparts as risk aversion came into play yesterday. However, USD/JPY managed to hold on to the 97.80 area while GBP/JPY is currently trading below 150.00. There are no major reports due from Japan today as traders await the release of Japanese inflation reports for tomorrow.
Commodity Currencies (AUD, NZD, CAD)
The comdolls managed to sneak in some gains yesterday, as AUD/USD tested the .9300 area while USD/CAD retreated from 1.0500. This recovery was spurred by a drop in Chinese interbank lending rates, squashing fears that a credit crunch is taking place. In Australia, Prime Minister Julia Gillard was ousted by rival Kevin Rudd. No major reports are due from these economies today.
By Kate Curtis from Trader’s Way
