Here is what you need to know on Thursday, November 16:
Following the sharp decline seen on Tuesday after soft US inflation data, the US Dollar (USD) Index recovered modestly on Wednesday and managed to stretch higher early Thursday. In the second half of the day, weekly Initial Jobless Claims, Philadelphia Fed Manufacturing Survey and Industrial Production data for October will be featured in the US economic docket. Federal Reserve (Fed) policymakers Loretta Mester, John Williams and Governor Lisa Cook will be speaking in the American trading hours. European Central Bank President Christine Lagarde will also deliver pre-recorded opening remarks at the Annual European Systemic Risk Board Online Conference.
The data from the US revealed on Wednesday that Retail Sales declined less than expected in October while producer inflation continued to decelerate. As the risk rally lost its steam after mixed data releases, Wall Street's main indexes closed flat and the USD managed to stay resilient against its major rivals.
US Dollar price this week
The table below shows the percentage change of US Dollar (USD) against listed major currencies this week. US Dollar was the weakest against the Australian Dollar.
| USD | EUR | GBP | CAD | AUD | JPY | NZD | CHF | |
| USD | -1.47% | -1.25% | -0.71% | -1.80% | -0.05% | -1.45% | -1.51% | |
| EUR | 1.45% | 0.21% | 0.74% | -0.35% | 1.40% | -0.01% | -0.01% | |
| GBP | 1.26% | -0.20% | 0.55% | -0.52% | 1.20% | -0.17% | -0.24% | |
| CAD | 0.72% | -0.73% | -0.51% | -1.06% | 0.67% | -0.70% | -0.77% | |
| AUD | 1.77% | 0.32% | 0.54% | 1.07% | 1.71% | 0.34% | 0.30% | |
| JPY | 0.06% | -1.41% | -1.18% | -0.65% | -1.73% | -1.37% | -1.44% | |
| NZD | 1.47% | 0.02% | 0.24% | 0.77% | -0.31% | 1.41% | -0.02% | |
| CHF | 1.48% | 0.03% | 0.25% | 0.78% | -0.30% | 1.42% | 0.06% |
The heat map shows percentage changes of major currencies against each other. The base currency is picked from the left column, while the quote currency is picked from the top row. For example, if you pick the Euro from the left column and move along the horizontal line to the Japanese Yen, the percentage change displayed in the box will represent EUR (base)/JPY (quote).
During the Asian trading hours, the Australian Bureau of Statistics reported that the Unemployment Rate edged higher to 3.7% in October from 3.6% in September. The Participation Rate rose to 67% from 66.8% in the same period, while the Employment Change came in at +55,000, much better than the market expectation for an increase of +20,000. Other data from Australia showed that the Consumer Inflation Expectations ticked up to 4.9% in November from 4.8%. AUD/USD turned south following these data releases and broke below 0.6500.
EUR/USD met resistance before reaching 1.0900 and registered small losses on Wednesday. Early Thursday, the pair fluctuates in a tight channel at around 1.0850.
After rising above 1.2500, GBP/USD staged a technical correction on Wednesday and extended its slide early Thursday. At the time of press, the pair was trading in negative territory below 1.2400.
USD/JPY gained nearly 100 pips on Wednesday and settled above 151.00. In the European morning on Thursday the pair fluctuates in a narrow channel slightly below 151.50.
Gold struggled to preserve its bullish momentum as the benchmark 10-year US Treasury bond yield rebounded toward 4.5%. After closing the day flat on Wednesday, XAU/USD started to rise toward $1,970 early Thursday.
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Another sign of the good health of the US economy came in response to firm flash US Manufacturing and Services PMIs, which in turn reinforced further the already strong performance of the US Dollar, relegating EUR/USD to the 1.0400 neighbourhood on Friday.
GBP/USD remains depressed near 1.2520 on stronger Dollar
Poor results from the UK docket kept the British pound on the back foot on Thursday, hovering around the low-1.2500s in a context of generalized weakness in the risk-linked galaxy vs. another outstanding day in the Greenback.
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Persistent safe haven demand continues to prop up the march north in Gold prices so far on Friday, hitting new two-week tops past the key $2,700 mark per troy ounce despite extra strength in the Greenback and mixed US yields.
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Eurozone PMI sounds the alarm about growth once more
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