Forex Today: Dollar recovers after short-lived pullback, Wall Street slides again
|Friday will be a relatively quiet day in terms of economic data. During the Asian session, Japan will release the National Consumer Price Index, which is expected to show a slowdown from 3.3% to 2.5%. Later in the day, the UK will report retail sales.
Here is what you need to know on Friday, August 18:
During the American session, the US Dollar strengthened across the board amid risk aversion and higher Treasury yields. The Dow Jones index declined by 0.85%, marking its third consecutive day of losses and posting its lowest close in a month. Concerns over the outlook for the Chinese economy, coupled with expectations of higher interest rates for a longer period, contributed to market worries.
US Treasury yields ended the session with a mixed performance. The 10-year yield reached a peak at 4.32%, the highest level since 2007, before pulling back, while the 30-year yield rose to 4.42%, the highest since 2011. The US Dollar Index finished the day flat at 103.40 after reaching two-month highs at 103.59.
US Initial Jobless Claims declined to 239,000 in the week ended August 12, which exceeded expectations. However, Continuing Jobless Claims rose to 1.716 million in the week ended August 5, reaching the highest level in four weeks. The Philadelphia Fed Manufacturing Survey showed a significant positive surprise by rising from -13.5 to 12.
No top-tier releases are expected from the US on Friday. The focus is turning to the Jackson Hole Symposium, which will be underway a week from now.
EUR/USD initially rose to 1.0920 but pulled back during American trading hours, falling to 1.0855, marking a fresh six-week low. The Eurozone will release the final reading of the July Consumer Price Index, which is expected to be a non-event with no surprises. The annual rate stands at 5.5% in July. Eurostat will also release Construction Output data for June.
The Japanese Yen managed to recover ground despite rising government bond yields. The decline in equity markets supported the Yen, along with the some loss of momentum in the US Dollar. USD/JPY experienced its worst daily loss in two weeks and fell below 146.00. On Friday, Japan will release the National Consumer Price Index, which is expected to show a 2.5% increase from a year ago, lower than the 3.3% observed in June.
GBP/USD rose significantly on Thursday. However, the pair failed to hold above the 20-day Simple Moving Average (SMA) and fell below 1.2750. The round of UK economic data will conclude on Friday with the release of Retail Sales. Sales are expected to have declined by 0.5% in July after a 0.7% gain in June. So far, the Pound is the top-performing currency of the week among the major currencies.
USD/CHF maintains a bullish bias, although the upward momentum remains limited, as the pair has been unable to consolidate above 0.8800. Switzerland is set to report Q2 Industrial Production data.
The Australian jobs report had a negative impact on the Aussie, leading to underperformance on Thursday. However, the losses were trimmed later in the day. AUD/USD bottomed at 0.6365, the lowest level since November, before experiencing a rebound towards 0.6450. However, it later pulled back due to a stronger US Dollar, extending its negative streak to eight days.
USD/CAD rose for the fourth consecutive day and posted its highest daily close since late May, near 1.3550. The pair is showing overbought conditions, and a correction is overdue. However, negative sentiment and a stronger US Dollar currently favor the upside. Inflation data is due in Canada with the Industrial Product Price and the Raw Material Price Index for July.
NZD/USD fell again but closed slightly away from the lows. It reached a low point at 0.5903 and closed at 0.5925.
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