Weekly Forex Wrap Up: January 5th to January 9th

By Orbex Last updated Oct 31, 2021

Week in Forex: Orbex Weekly Forex Wrap Up

Markets were back in full strength as the first trading week of the year kicked off with some key released across the Eurozone, UK, US and Canada. Asian currencies, the Yen, Kiwi and Aussie dollar were seen trading based off the broader market themes.

US Dollar ends the year on a bullish note

The US Dollar was trading mixed across the board this week. FOMC meeting minutes showed that the Fed members ruled out interest rate hikes before April this year, while stating that low inflation does not pose a threat to interest rate hikes. The Greenback was stronger against a fundamentally weaker Euro and British Pound. US labor market for the month of December posted better than expected numbers but the main negative was the average hourly earnings which eased to 1.7% annualized, while on the monthly, hourly earnings declined -0.2%. However considering the larger theme, the temporary setbacks to the US Dollar is likely to be limited.

Final services PMI 53.3 vs. 53.8
ISM non-manufacturing PMI 56.2 vs. 58.2
Factory orders m/m declined -0.7% vs. -0.3% forecast
ADP Nonfarm payroll change rises 241k vs. 227k
Weekly unemployment claims 294k vs. 291k
Nonfarm employment change 252k vs. 241k
Unemployment rate 5.6% vs. 5.7%

Euro seen at its weakest levels

The Euro single currency continued its declines with data coming out mixed. Headline CPI for Eurozone dipped into negative territory which fuelled comments from different ECB members, but consensus continues to show dissenters in the likes of Jens Weidmann and Coeure who continue to remain staunch opponents to QE plans.

Germany preliminary CPI m/m 0% vs. 0.1%
Eurozone final services PMI 51.6 vs. 51.9
German retail sales m/m 1% vs. 0.2%
Eurozone CPI flash estimate y/y -0.2% vs. 0%; Core CPI 0.8% vs. 0.7%
German factory orders m/m -2.4% vs. -0.6%
Eurozone retail sales m/m 0.6% vs. 0.3%
German industrial production m/m -0.1% vs. 0.4%

Yen, the silent spectator

With lack of any market moving fundamental releases from Japan, the Yen was trading off the general theme in the forex markets although it was seen to be stronger against most of its peers this week, especially against the weaker Canadian Dollar and the Euro.

Final manufacturing PMI 52 vs. 52.1 previously
Monetary base y/y 38.2% vs. 34.3%
Leading indicators 103.8% vs. 104.9%

Sterling pressured by weaker growth

The British Pound was weak heading into this week as continued data showed deteriorating market conditions. PMI’s fell across the board and the Bank of England decided to keep interest rates unchanged as widely expected. Market sentiment has now pushed out interest rate hikes into 2016, which puts the British Pound at a disadvantage against the Greenback, where interest rate speculation continues to build. The only positive data to come out this week was manufacturing production, which beat estimates and one that is likely to push the PMI manufacturing data for the month higher during the next release. Although the Pound was weak against the Greenback and the Euro, the currency remained mixed against rest of its peers and stronger against the Canadian dollar.

Construction PMI 57.6 vs. 59.2
Services PMI 55.8 vs. 58.9
Halifax HPI m/m 0.9% vs. 0.3%
BoE official bank rate 0.5%
Manufacturing production m/m 0.7% vs. 0.4%