Forex Major Currencies Outlook (January 13, 2014)

The actual figure showed a 74K rise in hiring when analysts were expecting to see roughly 200K in jobs gains. However, the jobless rate fell from 7.2% to 6.7% as the participation rate fell. With that, FOMC officials might continue to debate on whether or not to adjust the jobless rate target of 6.5% lower or not. Up ahead, there are no major reports due from the US economy so traders might keep pricing in their expectations for Fed policy changes depending on the latest jobs release.

EUR

The euro rebounded to the dollar last Friday, as the shared currency took advantage of weak US data. French industrial production data came in better than expected and showed a 1.3% increase versus the estimated 0.6% uptick. Italian industrial production is up for release today and a 0.6% increase is expected.

GBP

The pound recovered to the 1.6500 area against the dollar on Friday, thanks to weaker than expected NFP data. UK manufacturing production was weaker than expected as the report showed a flat reading instead of the estimated 0.4% uptick while the previous month’s report was revised lower. There are no reports due from the UK today.

CHF

The franc gave up some gains to the dollar when the Swiss CPI report came in below consensus and showed a 0.2% decline in price levels but USD/CHF soon retreated when the US had its share of bleak data. There are no reports lined up from Switzerland today so USD/CHF might be vulnerable to market sentiment.

JPY

Japanese banks are on holiday today yet yen pairs saw a bit of movement. USD/JPY slipped below the 104.00 mark on the heels of weak US data and risk aversion. Japan’s leading indicators came in line with consensus and allowed the Nikkei to gain a bit of ground. Yen pairs’ behavior might be in line with Asian equities performance for the day.

Commodity Currencies (AUD, NZD, CAD)

The comdolls took advantage of dollar weakness on Friday, except for the Canadian dollar which was weighed down by weak data. The Canadian jobs report showed a decline in hiring of close to 50K, enough to bring their jobless rate up from 6.9% to 7.2%. The BOC business outlook survey is up for release today, along with the NZIER business confidence. Earlier today, Australia reported a 0.7% decline in ANZ job advertisements, spelling weak prospects for the labor report due this week.

By Kate Curtis from Trader's Way