Forex Major Currencies Outlook (Feb 17, 2017)

Data came in stronger than expected but bulls seemed disappointed to find out that Trump still hasn't shared much detail on tax reform. Only the CB leading index is due today and another 0.5% uptick is eyed, but the dollar could continue to take its cues from political headlines. 

EUR

The euro was able to get back on its feet when reports turned out better than expected. The Italian trade balance printed a larger than expected surplus while the ECB minutes didn't contain too many dovish surprises. Euro zone current account balance is due today and a smaller deficit of 28.7 billion EUR compared to the earlier 36.1 billion EUR is eyed.

GBP

The pound is in a weak spot ahead of today's UK retail sales release as traders are predicting that the combination of slow wage growth and higher price levels put a dent on spending. Still, the consensus is for a 1.0% rebound from the earlier 1.9% decline but downbeat results could signal that Brexit issues are starting to take their toll on the economy. 

CHF

The franc took advantage of dollar weakness and managed to rebound against its other rivals as well. There were no reports out of the Swiss economy yesterday and none are due today so the franc could take its cue from euro zone updates and overall market sentiment. 

JPY

The Japanese yen had a mixed performance as it advanced to the dollar and commodity currencies but moved sideways against the euro. There were no major reports out of Japan yesterday and none are due today so market sentiment could be the main driving factor. 

Commodity Currencies (AUD, NZD, CAD)

The Aussie got a bit of a boost from strong headline jobs figures as the economy added 13.5K jobs in January versus the projected 9.7K figure while the jobless rate ticked down from 5.8% to 5.7%. However, underlying components indicated that the gains were mostly from part-time hiring. In New Zealand, quarterly retail sales figures missed their marks as the headline reading was up 0.8% versus 1.1% while the core figure increased 0.6% versus 0.9%. Canadian foreign securities purchases data is due next. 

By Kate Curtis from Trader's Way