USD

U.S. traders are back in the grind today, after taking a day off in honor of Memorial Day. The U.S. will be printing its CB consumer confidence report for May and possibly show a strong rise in optimism. 

The reading is slated to increase from 68.1 to 70.7 for the month, which should provide strong support for the dollar and the U.S. economy as well. After all, consumers have been driving most of the country’s economic activity and an improvement in confidence could be indicative of more spending later on.

EUR

More liquidity for euro pairs is expected today as U.K. and U.S. traders are back on their trading desks. The only report due from the euro zone is the German import prices data, which shouldn’t have such a huge impact on EUR/USD or EUR/JPY. With that, keep close tabs on market sentiment and U.S. data as these could dictate price action across the board.

GBP

U.K. traders are back from their Spring Bank holiday today, which means there could be bigger price movements among pound pairs. There are no economic releases from the U.K. but monetary policy committee member and Deputy Governor Paul Tucker is set to give a testimony. If the central bank official drops hints on the BOE’s future monetary policy moves, it could send the pound rallying or dropping, depending on what he says.

CHF

Swiss employment data is on tap for today and the report is estimated to show a drop from 4.12 million to 4.11 million for the first quarter of the year. If so, that would mark the first drop in employment for the past five quarters, which could be negative for the franc. Otherwise, the franc might have a chance at holding on to its recent levels or even pocketing some gains. Take note that the Swiss trade balance is also up for release today.

JPY

The Nikkei has been able to get back on its feet for today’s Asian session, allowing USD/JPY to climb as well. There are no major reports due from Japan, as yen pairs could take their cue from market sentiment today.

Commodity Currencies (AUD, CAD, NZD)

Commodity currencies edged slightly lower against the U.S. dollar as commodity prices declined on Monday. AUD/USD is currently testing the key .9600 support while NZD/USD is sitting close to .8000. There are no major reports due from these commodity-dependent economies today, which suggests that they could stay sensitive to commodity price action and market sentiment.

By Kate Curtis from Trader’s Way