As shown in the price action of USD/JPY, today's report is a good number for the U.S. dollar. In the Beige Book, the Fed said the economy grew over the past month even as harsh weather slowed hiring. With today's release, concerns about the slowdown will ease paving way for a stronger dollar rally ahead of the March 19th FOMC announcement. Today's number is a big relief for the central bank whose optimism about the economic outlook came into question with every piece of disappointing data. Janet Yellen's decision to continue reducing purchases will now receive more support than skepticism. The central bank is widely expected to drop its 6.5% unemployment rate threshold this month and adopt qualitative guidance. Barring a negative retail sales report next week, we expect USD/JPY to quietly trickle higher towards 105. EUR/USD on the other hand should find a new trading range between 1.3750 and 1.39. While this month's NFP report and 7bp increase in the 10 year yield assures that Fed policy will lead ECB policy, the recent optimism from ECB President Draghi will limit the downside for EUR/USD.
Up North, disappointing Canadian employment numbers drove USD/CAD sharply higher. A total of 7k jobs were lost in Canada last month, which is significantly worse than the market's 15k expectation. Although full time employment increased, the return to job losses will leave the Bank of Canada cautious. Combined with the recent sell-off in oil prices, USD/CAD could extend higher.
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AUD/USD: The hunt for the 0.7000 hurdle
AUD/USD quickly left behind Wednesday’s strong pullback and rose markedly past the 0.6900 barrier on Thursday, boosted by news of fresh stimulus in China as well as renewed weakness in the US Dollar.
EUR/USD refocuses its attention to 1.1200 and above
Rising appetite for the risk-associated assets, the offered stance in the Greenback and Chinese stimulus all contributed to the resurgence of the upside momentum in EUR/USD, which managed to retest the 1.1190 zone on Thursday.
Gold holding at higher ground at around $2,670
Gold breaks to new high of $2,673 on Thursday. Falling interest rates globally, intensifying geopolitical conflicts and heightened Fed easing bets are the main factors.
Bitcoin displays bullish signals amid supportive macroeconomic developments and growing institutional demand
Bitcoin (BTC) trades slightly up, around $64,000 on Thursday, following a rejection from the upper consolidation level of $64,700 the previous day. BTC’s price has been consolidating between $62,000 and $64,700 for the past week.
RBA widely expected to keep key interest rate unchanged amid persisting price pressures
The Reserve Bank of Australia is likely to continue bucking the trend adopted by major central banks of the dovish policy pivot, opting to maintain the policy for the seventh consecutive meeting on Tuesday.
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