USD

The US dollar kicked its rallies back in high gear after Yellen’s speech. 

The Fed Chairperson confirmed that a December rate hike is in the cards, citing that the economy has improved and is nearing full employment. She even cautioned that tightening might be necessary ahead of the new administration’s projected increase in fiscal stimulus for fear of causing the economy to overheat. Data from the US economy was also mostly stronger than expected, but core CPI and Philly Fed index came up short. Bullard, George, and Dudley have testimonies lined up today.

EUR

The euro continued its slide to the dollar but was slightly stronger against the yen and the commodity currencies. Euro zone headline final CPI was upgraded from 0.4% to 0.5% while the core reading was unchanged. German PPI and euro zone current account balance figures are due today.

GBP

The pound was able to put up a fight against its peers when UK retail sales printed an impressive 1.9% jump versus the projected 0.5% increase. The previous reading was also upgraded from a flat figure to a 0.1% uptick. There are no reports due from the UK economy today.

CHF

The franc was mostly weaker but it managed to score gains against the euro. There were no major reports out of Switzerland yesterday and SNB official Maechler didn’t have anything new to say, although she has another testimony scheduled. 

JPY

The yen lost a lot of ground to the dollar and a few pips to the rest of its peers as risk appetite stayed in play. There were no reports out of Japan yesterday and none are due today so market sentiment could keep pushing yen pairs around.

Commodity Currencies (AUD, NZD, CAD)

The commodity currencies gave up ground to the dollar but managed to advance against the yen. Employment data from Australia was mixed, as employment change showed a 9.8K gain versus the projected 20.3K increase. Canadian CPI readings are due today and small improvements over the previous readings are eyed. New Zealand postponed its release of quarterly PPI and retail sales once more.

By Kate Curtis from Trader’s Way