USD

The US dollar returned some of its recent wins at the start of the week since there were no reports from the US economy to keep the momentum sustained. 

Traders are also booking profits ahead of the US retail sales release tomorrow. For today, only the JOLTS job openings report and wholesale inventories data are up for release and these might not have such a huge impact on dollar movement.

EUR

The euro managed to recover some of its previous losses, as traders booked profits off their short positions when data from Germany n came in better than expected. German industrial production picked up by 0.9% versus the projected 0.6% uptick while the trade surplus widened to 22.3 billion EUR. On the other hand, sentiment in the region dipped, as the Sentix investor confidence index fell from 19.6 to 17.1. Only the revised GDP reading is due from the region today and no changes are expected from the initially reported 0.4% estimate.

GBP

The pound made a strong comeback in Monday’s trading even though there were no major reports to give it a boost. For today, the UK trade balance is due and a smaller deficit of 10 billion GBP compared to the previous 10.1 billion GBP is eyed.

CHF

The franc was also able to recover against most of its counterparts, thanks to broad-based profit-taking. There have been no reports released from Switzerland yesterday but it appears the franc took its cue from the euro. Today the unemployment rate is due and no changes are expected from the previous 3.3% reading. Swiss CPI is also up for release and a 0.1% uptick is projected.

JPY

The yen was able to recover against the dollar but was still in a weak spot against some of its other forex counterparts. There have been no major reports out of Japan yesterday, but it looks like the GDP revision from 0.6% to 1.0% did give the currency a boost. Only the consumer confidence index is due today and a climb from 41.5 to 41.9 is expected.

Commodity Currencies (AUD, NZD, CAD)

The comdolls were able to recover against most of their counterparts, as the dollar pairs tested key levels. Earlier today, Australia released relatively upbeat data, with an improvement in NAB business confidence from 3 to 7 and a stronger than expected 1.0% increase in home loans. China printed a weaker than expected CPI reading of 1.2% versus the projected 1.3% increase and the previous 1.5% gain.

By Kate Curtis from Trader’s Way