Key Notes:
- Australia employment change -2.9k vs. 4.0k; unemployment rate 6.2% vs. 6.2%
- Germany factory orders m/m 0.9% vs. 1.5%; y/y 1.9% vs. 1.9%
- France industrial production m/m -0.3% vs. 0.1%; y/y 1.3% vs. 1.1%
- France manufacturing production m/m 0.3% vs. 0.2%
- Canada building permits m/m 11.6% vs. 2%
- US weekly jobless claims 265k vs. 279k
Later:
- German Finance minister Schaeuble speech
- ECB Mersch speech
- US Consumer credit
UK Elections underway, British Pound at risk
The currency markets opened today on a quiet note with the Greenback posting another day of losses yesterday. The Australian Dollar and the Euro were noticeably stronger during the early Asian trading session, while the Yen was also seen strengthening early on. USDJPY continued to post losses after failing to break above the 120.036 handle and was seen trading near 119, but remains well supported above the falling price channel. Yesterday, Fed Chair, Janet Yellen made a speech but did not offer many insights into monetary policy. She did however mention that that Federal Reserve was aware of the implications of its policy decisions and also commented that the stock market valuations were high but moderated.
The Australian employment data was released earlier today. There were no major surprises in store with the April jobs report coming in line with expectations while the previous month’s data was revised slightly higher. Unemployment rate rose to 6.2% from 6.1%. The Aussie managed to hold on to its gains against the Greenback which was weaker but was seen struggling to hold near the highs against other currencies such as the Euro and the Yen. The Aussie now looks to the RBA meeting minutes due tomorrow followed by the NFP numbers from the US.
The Kiwi dollar continues to drift along lower and remains well pressured for further downside losses in the near future.
The European trading session opened up with the UK General elections underway. Voting began early but there was no noticeable change on the British Pound, although the currency was trading weaker across the board earlier, the Sterling managed to reverse most of the losses, lifting off from the intraday lows. More volatility could be expected as the results and exit polls start to weigh in on the markets. EURGBP posted a fresh high, trading near 0.747 levels.
There was limited data from Europe with only the German and French industrial and manufacturing data and factory orders. Data was largely mixed but the Euro remained unfazed by the economic data. The EURUSD broke above 1.135 but failed to close above this high at the time of writing. Additional selling pressure could see the currency head lower ahead of the US weekly jobs report.
From the US, economic data is also relatively light today.
Weekly jobless claims from the US managed to rise by 3k from last week to 265k against estimates of 279k while Canadian building permits managed to beat expectations, rising 11.6% for the month, above estimates of 2%. The Greenback managed to gain some ground on the news, but is likely to remain subdued into tomorrow’s NFP report.
