Forex Major Currencies Outlook (February 19, 2018)

US banks are closed in observance of President's Day today, which means that liquidity is low and volatility could tick higher. This could also give equities reason to pause from their rallies.

EUR

The euro was still in a weak spot despite mostly upbeat low-tier data. German WPI beat expectations with a 0.9% gain versus the estimated 0.2% uptick. Only the current account balance is due today, leaving traders to price in expectations for the ECB minutes due later on.

GBP

The pound gave up some ground on Friday due to weak retail sales data. Consumer spending was expected to have increased by 0.5% in January but only rose 0.1%. Still, the previous reading enjoyed a small upgrade. BOE Governor Carney has a speech today.

CHF

The franc continued to rake in gains on Friday even though there were no major reports from the Swiss economy. There are still no major reports due from the Swiss economy today so market sentiment and currency-specific factors could stay in play.

JPY

The yen held on to its top spot for the most part of the week as dollar demand ticked lower. Over the weekend, Japan printed a stronger than expected trade balance of 0.37 trillion JPY. There are no other reports due from Japan today but the bank holiday in the US could bring more traders to the yen.

Commodity Currencies (AUD, NZD, CAD)

The comdolls had a mixed run as they gave up some ground to the dollar on Friday. Canadian manufacturing sales and foreign securities purchases turned out weaker than expected while New Zealand has its quarterly PPI numbers due next. Input prices could rise 0.3% while output prices could increase by 0.4%.

By Kate Curtis from Trader's Way