Forex Major Currencies Outlook (Feb 8, 2016)

The economy added only 151K jobs in January versus the projected 189K gain while the December reading was downgraded from 292K to 262K. Still, the unemployment rate fell to its nine-year low of 4.9% while the participation rate improved. Average earnings rose 0.5% versus the projected 0.3% forecast. No reports are due from the US today.

EUR

The euro gave up ground to the dollar and yen but was still strong against its other rivals, even though German factory orders missed expectations. The report indicated a 0.7% drop instead of the projected 0.3% dip. German industrial production and euro zone Sentix investor confidence numbers are due today.

GBP

The pound managed to limit its losses to the dollar but weakened to the commodity currencies. There were no reports out of the UK then and there are no reports due today.

CHF

The franc managed to stay steady against the dollar while advancing to the euro on Friday. Swiss foreign currency reserves actually fell to 575 billion CHF, indicating that the SNB isn't intervening in the financial markets. There are no reports due from the Swiss economy today.

JPY

The yen was able to score gains against its higher-yielding counterparts but was no match to dollar strength. Japanese leading indicators fell from 103.5% to 102% to indicate potential weakness in the economy.

Commodity Currencies (AUD, NZD, CAD)

The Aussie lost a lot of ground to the dollar as retail sales fell flat instead of showing the estimated 0.3% gain while the RBA statement indicated scope for further easing. Chinese banks are on holiday today which suggests some consolidation for AUD and NZD pairs. In Canada, the jobs data missed expectations and showed a 5.7K decline in hiring versus the projected 5.2K increase.

By Kate Curtis from Trader's Way