General Commentary
Last Week’s Currency Trading Review:
The EUR: The EUR/USD ended the week at 1.3876 after opening the week at 1.3839. The currency rose steadily this week as eurozone CPI and unemployment data gave the ECB a chance to duck out on adding additional stimulus. Economics have revised higher quarterly growth forecast for the US economy.
The Yen: The USD/JPY ended the week at 102.22 after touching a high of 103.02 after the US dollar climbed on a strong jobs report but the gave up its gains. BOJ minutes to the April 7-8 meeting may further inform the debate over the criteria for expanding stimulus but the minutes are likely to be treated as stale since they precede the April 30th policy meeting that resulted no policy changes.
The AUD: The AUD remained in a tight range this week closing at 0.9269 ahead of this week’s RBA meeting and weak Chinese data. A drop in ore and mineral prices weighed heavily on the AUD. The AUD is trading lower ahead of the releases of the US non-farm payrolls report and a RBA interest rate decision coming up this week.
The Forex Trading Week Preview:
The States: Monday ISM Non-Manufacturing PMI (54.3 vs 53.1). Tuesday, Trade Balance (-40.1B vs -42.3B), Wednesday, Prelim Non-Farm productivity, Prelim Labor cost, Fed Yellen Testifies. Thursday, Unemployment claims. Friday JOLTS job Openings.
The EZ: Eurogroup meeting, Tuesday, Spanish Unemployment Change (-49.1k vs 16.6k), Retail Sales, Spanish Services PMI. Wednesday, German Factory orders, French Industrial Production. Thursday, German Industrial production, Minimum Bid Rate, ECB Press Conference.
The BOJ: Monday & Tuesday Holiday, Wednesday Monetary Policy Meeting Minutes,
