USD

The US dollar gave up some gains on weak US data, as the durable goods orders figures were below expectations while the Chicago PMI printed a drop. 

However, the dollar was able to recover against most of its major counterparts when initial jobless claims came in strong and the UoM consumer sentiment figure was revised higher. There are no reports due from the US economy today as traders are off on their Thanksgiving holidays so it will be interesting to see whether profit-taking will trigger huge bounces among dollar pairs today. 

EUR The euro extended its climb against the dollar and the yen when the German GfK consumer climate report rose from 7.1 to 7.4 instead of just holding steady at 7.1 as expected. More data from Germany is up for release today, namely the employment figures and CPI. Medium-tier reports from large euro zone economies, such as Italy and Spain, are up for release today so a set of stronger than expected data might push EUR/USD and EUR/JPY higher. 

GBP

The pound sustained its rallies in yesterday’s trading when the UK GDP was revised up from 0.8% to show 1.5% growth for the third quarter of the year. This was enough to push GBP/USD above its nearby resistance at 1.6200, signaling that more gains could be in the cards. However, CBI realized sales came in below consensus by falling from 2 to 1 instead of rising to 12. Up ahead, BOE Governor Carney is set to give a testimony and possibly reiterate that the central bank isn’t ready to unwind stimulus just yet. 

CHF

The franc bounced back and forth against its counterparts as the Swiss currency was testing support levels. Only the UBS consumption indicator was released yesterday and it printed a small decline. For today, Swiss GDP is up for release and is expected to show a 0.5% growth figure. A weaker than expected reading might force the franc to let go of its recent gains but a strong report could push it to new highs. 

JPY

The yen was able to stage a bit of recovery during the early trading sessions but gave up most of its gains to the dollar again during the US session. USD/JPY climbed past the 102.00 handle but appears to be making a pullback. There were no reports released from Japan then but earlier today we saw a 2.3% increase in retail sales, higher than the projected 2.2% figure but lower compared to the previous 3.0% reading. No other reports are due from Japan today. 

Commodity Currencies (AUD, NZD, CAD) The comdolls mostly gave up more ground to the dollar yesterday, as the downbeat sentiment continued to weigh on the Aussie and Kiwi. Data from Australia and New Zealand was actually strong today, as the ANZ business confidence report of New Zealand rose from 53.2 to 60.5 while Australia reported a strong jump in quarterl private capital expenditure. However, the bad news is that the previous report had a large downward revision. Canadian current account and medium-tier inflation figures are up for release later. 

By Kate Curtis from Trader’s Way