Forex Major Currencies Outlook (Jan 20, 2015)

There are still no major reports due from the US economy today, suggesting that risk sentiment could dominate price action in the next trading sessions.

EUR

The euro started to show a bit of weakness against some of its forex counterparts, as traders anticipate actual quantitative easing from the ECB this week. Data has been weaker than expected, with the current account balance falling short of expectations and indicating a smaller surplus. Apart from that, the previous month’s reading was downgraded. The German ZEW economic sentiment figure is up for release today and an improvement from 34.9 to 40.1 is eyed, which could support profit-taking scenarios for euro pairs for now.

GBP

The pound resumed its slide to the dollar in recent trading, despite the lack of top-tier data from the UK economy. Only the Rightmove HPI was released yesterday and it indicated a 1.4% increase in prices. There are no major reports lined up from the UK today, leaving traders to position themselves ahead of the UK jobs report and BOE minutes due tomorrow.

CHF

The franc tried to hold steady against its forex counterparts, even as the Swiss PPI showed a smaller than expected decline. The report showed a 0.4% drop, better than the estimated 0.6% decline in producer prices. For today, there are no major reports lined up from the Swiss economy.

JPY

The yen showed further weakness against its counterparts as risk appetite appeared to improve at the start of the week. Data from Japan has been in line with expectations as the revised industrial production report marked a 0.5% decline as expected while the consumer confidence reading improved from 37.7 to 38.8. There are no reports lined up from Japan today.

Commodity Currencies (AUD, NZD, CAD)

The comdolls got a small boost from Chinese data earlier today, as most of the figures beat expectations. The economy printed a 7.3% growth figure for Q4, slightly stronger than the anticipated 7.2% GDP reading, while retail sales picked up by an annualized 11.9%. Industrial production was stronger than expected at 7.9% versus the estimated 7.4% figure. The New Zealand dairy auction is scheduled today and another uptick in milk prices might lead to Kiwi gains. As for Canada, the manufacturing sales report is due and might show a 0.5% drop.

By Kate Curtis from Trader's Way