USD
The US dollar surged against its forex rivals on Friday, thanks to a strong NFP report.
The economy added 280K jobs in May, higher than the projected 222K increase, while the jobless rate ticked up from 5.4% to 5.5% due to an improvement in the labor force participation rate. Apart from that, average hourly earnings saw a 0.3% uptick, higher than the projected 0.2% increase and the previous 0.1% rise. Only the labor market conditions index is up for release today and another set of improvements might allow the dollar to extend its rallies.
EUR
The euro gave up its recent wins to most of its forex rivals when the Greek government confirmed that they won’t be able to meet their debt repayments for the week. Instead they opted to consolidate their loan obligations for the month in hopes of buying more time to secure more bailout funds or agree to an economic reform plan before the end of the month. Data from the euro zone beat expectations on Friday, with the German factory orders report showing a 1.4% jump and the French trade balance showing a smaller than expected deficit. German industrial production and the euro zone Sentix investor confidence index are due today.
GBP
The pound resumed its slide to the dollar, despite the increase in UK consumer inflation expectations from 1.9% to 2.2%. Traders probably brushed this data point aside, knowing that the economy showed a negative headline inflation reading recently. There are no reports lined up from the UK today, which suggests the possibility of consolidation for pound pairs or a continuation of their ongoing trends.
CHF
Franc pairs popped slightly higher on Friday after the release of Switzerland’s foreign currency reserves report, which indicated a drop from 522.2 billion CHF to 517.5 billion CHF. The Swiss unemployment rate is up for release today and no change from the previous 3.3% reading is eyed.
JPY
The yen lost a lot of ground to the US dollar and Canadian dollar on Friday but managed to hold on to some of its recent wins against the other currencies. Japan’s leading indicators reading showed a climb from 106.3% to 107.2%, reflecting brighter economic prospects ahead. Earlier today, Japan reported an upward revision in its final Q1 GDP reading from 0.6% to 1.0% but printed a weaker current account balance.
Commodity Currencies (AUD, NZD, CAD)
The Aussie and Kiwi resumed their slide in recent trading, as there were no reports to keep these currencies supported last Friday. The Loonie managed to put up a fight against the strengthening dollar, thanks to Canada’s better than expected jobs report. The economy added 58.9K jobs in May, higher than the projected 10.2K increase. Earlier today, China reported a higher than expected trade surplus but components of the figure still showed a decline in exports. Canadian building permits data is up for release later on.
By Kate Curtis from Trader’s Way
