USD
The dollar pulled off Friday with some gains on profit-taking while medium-tier reports came in mixed.
Final wholesale inventories rose 0.6% versus the projected 0.4% uptick while consumer credit rose from 11.8B USD to 18.5B USD versus the consensus at 15.1B USD. There are no reports due from the US today so traders would likely keep close tabs on the impact of Hurricane Irma on US markets and other political updates.
EUR
The euro had a mixed run at the end of the week as traders booked profits off the post-ECB rallies while medium-tier data came in mostly in line with expectations. Only the German trade balance was a disappointment as the surplus narrowed from 21.2B EUR to 19.5B EUR. French industrial production rose 0.5% as expected. Italian industrial production data is due today and a 0.5% dip is eyed.
GBP
The pound ended Friday on a positive note as data came in mostly stronger than expected. Manufacturing production rose 0.5% versus the 0.3% forecast while industrial production posted the estimated 0.2% uptick. The goods trade deficit came in at 11.6 billion GBP versus the projected 11.9 billion GBP shortfall. There are no reports due from the UK economy today.
CHF
The franc was in consolidation mode at the end of the week as the Swiss jobless rate came in line with expectations at 3.2%. There wasn’t much in the way of catalysts for risk sentiment either, so traders likely held off any large positions in anticipation of potential weekend risk. There are no reports due from Switzerland today.
JPY
The yen scored some gains on Friday but gapped down against its peers over the weekend on the lack of any negative updates from North Korea. The situation is still fluid, though, and traders are awaiting another round of sanctions and Pyongyang’s reaction. Japan’s final GDP reading was downgraded from 1.0% to 0.6%. Core machinery orders, preliminary machine tool orders, and tertiary industry activity index are due today.
Commodity Currencies (AUD, NZD, CAD)
The comdolls returned some of their recent gains on profit-taking at the end of the previous week since traders likely lightened their risk-on holdings to avoid weekend risk. Canada’s headline jobs figures came in better than expected at 22.2K in hiring gains but this was mostly due to part-time positions. Over the weekend, China printed stronger than expected CPI and PPI. Canada’s housing starts is due next.
By Kate Curtis from Trader’s Way
