The Forex daily summary for 6 April features the following key notes:
- Japan leading indicators 105.3% vs. 105.2%
- Spanish employment change -60.2k vs. -18.3k
- US Final services PMI 59.2 vs. 58.6
Later
- Canada Ivey PMI
- US non-manufacturing PMI
- Labor market conditions index
Currency markets were thin today with not much of activity as the major trading hubs across the globe were off on account of the Easter Monday bank holiday. The follow through was Friday’s NFP was very evident as for the most part, the US Dollar declined across the board.
Commodity risk currencies such as the Canadian and the Kiwi dollars managed to gain considerable ground from post-NFP’s Friday ranges but were largely choppy and trading sideways for the most part. The Australian Dollar was the exception as market speculation of a 25bps rate cut from the RBA tomorrow continues to drive the Aussie lower.
The Japanese Yen was also muted ahead of the crucial BoJ meeting due later this week, which again shows finely divided expectations that the Bank of Japan could expand its monetary stimulus program as inflation continues to stay near deflationary levels.
The European trading session was also quiet, but the Euro maintained its bullish stance against the Greenback. While the EURUSD was mostly ranging, into the US session, the Euro rallied towards 1.102 levels and shows no signs of easing, as the currency maintains its NFP gains.
The British Sterling, which was weaker for the most part also managed to gain some ground as the Cable is currently testing the key resistance level at 1.495, the upper end of the trading range that has been in play since the past three weeks. A break out upside however seems unlikely, but if the GBPUSD does manage to break above 1.495, it would need to see a test of this broken resistance for support before eyeing higher ground.
Gold continued to remain bullish as the precious metal was seen testing the highs of 1220 briefly, but remains comfortably bullish above the 1200 handle. Further upside gains could see a test towards 1225 – 1230 levels eventually.
Crude oil remained choppy as prices turned volatile since the Iran nuclear negotiation deal was announced. Nonetheless, Crude oil futures remain well supported, trading above the $49 handle.
The US trading session saw the release of the final services PMI, which managed to beat estimates, rising 59.2, above expectations of 58.6, and up from 58.6 previously. The US dollar remained muted to the news with the larger theme of the weaker jobs report weighing down on the Greenback. At the time of writing, the Greenback fell from intraday highs of 96.97 to trade near 96.56 levels, a few points above the main support at 96.42, which if broken could see further weakness set into the Greenback.
Further economic data includes non-manufacturing ISM PMI along with Ivey PMI data from Canada.
