Daily Forex Market Preview, 06/02/2018
The U.S. dollar was seen strengthening yesterday. Data from the U.S. showed that the ISM non-manufacturing PMI rose to 59.9 beating estimates of 56.5. January’s PMI data was also stronger than December’s print of 55.9.
In the UK, the services PMI came out slightly better than expected. The services sector activity rose to 54.7 in January, beating forecasts of 53.6 and accelerating slightly from December’s 53.9.
Earlier today, Australia’s retail sales figures showed a 0.5% decline on the month. This was a bigger than expected decline of 0.2%. However, revisions to previous month’s data showed an increase of 1.3%. The RBA’s monetary policy meeting was also held earlier today. The central bank kept interest rates unchanged at 1.50%.
Looking ahead, New Zealand’s unemployment data will be released later this evening. Estimates point to an increase in New Zealand’s unemployment rate at 4.7% while the quarterly employment change is expected to rise at a slower pace of 0.4%
USDJPY 06-02-2018 Intra-day analysis
USDJPY (108.60): The USDJPY currency pair posted sharp declines late yesterday as price action was seen falling back to the 108.64 level of support. This marks a retest of the previously established support level. A rebound off this level is required in order to put the bias to the upside. However, the resistance level that has held up around 110.44 – 110.34 could be seen stalling the gains once again. To the downside, if the declines extend below 108.26 then USDJPY could be seen falling to the 108.00 level eventually.
