Forex Major Currencies Outlook (Oct 24, 2016)

Only the US flash manufacturing PMI is lined up today and an uptick from 51.5 to 51.6 is eyed. Also on the schedule are speeches from FOMC members Dudley and Bullard.

EUR

The euro was in a weak spot on Friday even though there were no reports out of the region. Today has flash PMI readings from the manufacturing and services sectors of Germany and France, with small improvements eyed. These might be enough to bring the region's manufacturing PMI up from 52.6 to 52.7 and its services PMI up from 52.2 to 52.4. 

GBP

The pound struggled to hold on to its recent gains after the UK public sector net borrowing figure came in at 10.1 billion GBP versus the projected 8.6 billion GBP figure. Only the CBI industrial order expectations report is lined up today and an improvement from -5 to -2 is expected.

CHF

The franc slid lower against most of its forex peers on Friday as the Swiss currency simply trailed the euro. There are no major reports lined up from the Swiss economy today so the franc could be influenced by the turnout of the euro zone PMI reports unless SNB head Jordan drops a bombshell during his testimony today.

JPY

The yen took advantage of weaker risk appetite on Friday to advance against its higher-yielding rivals. Over the weekend, Japan printed a stronger than expected trade balance, as the surplus came in at 0.35T JPY versus the projected 0.21T JPY figure. Earlier today, Japan's flash manufacturing PMI jumped from 50.4 to 51.7, higher than the estimated rise to 50.6.

Commodity Currencies (AUD, NZD, CAD)

The comdolls gave up a lot of their recent gains, as the Loonie broke past a key level against the US dollar when Canadian data came in weaker than expected. Headline retail sales fell 0.1% while core retail sales was flat. Headline CPI posted a 0.1% uptick versus the projected 0.2% gain while core CPI came in line with expectations of a 0.2% increase. Canada's wholesale sales is due today.

By Kate Curtis from Trader's Way