USD

The US dollar chalked up another mixed forex performance, as economic reports were all over the place.

The headline durable goods orders report showed an impressive 3.0% gain while the core version of the report simply came in line with expectations of a 0.5% uptick. Initial jobless claims also came in above expectations but the core PCE price index disappointed with a flat reading. Personal spending rose 0.1% even as personal income grew by 0.4%. US traders will be off on their Thanksgiving holiday today so some profit-taking might be seen.

EUR

The euro continued to sell off against its peers when a Reuters interview with a couple of ECB officials was published. According to them, a number of policy options have been discussed, strengthening the case for additional easing in the ECB’s December statement. Data from the euro zone was weaker than expected as the Italian retail sales report printed a 0.1% drop instead of the estimated 0.5% increase. 

GBP

The pound was still in a weak spot since there were no major reports to give it any support. The Treasury’s autumn forecast statement did contain some positive bits, as the growth estimate for 2016 was upgraded. There are no reports lined up from the UK today.

CHF

The franc saw another set of losses against its forex peers even though there were no major reports out of Switzerland. Franc bears got in the game upon hearing reports that the ECB is likely to announce further easing in December, speculating that the SNB might intervene in the currency market to keep the franc weak. The Swiss UBS consumption indicator actually improved from 1.56 to 1.60 and there are no reports due from the Swiss economy today.

JPY 

The yen gave up some ground to the dollar and a few of its forex rivals as risk aversion appeared to ease in the financial markets. There were no major reports out of Japan then and none are due today, allowing traders to price in expectations ahead of the spending and inflation reports due later on.

Commodity Currencies (AUD, NZD, CAD)

The Loonie was one of the stronger ones in the bunch, as the Canadian currency continued to draw support from oil prices. Australia printed a weaker than expected quarterly construction work done report while New Zealand showed a smaller trade deficit for October, although this was spurred by a decline in both imports and exports. Australia is set to print its private capital expenditure report next.

By Kate Curtis from Trader’s Way