Yahoo Finance Forex Daily Recap – Greenback Slipped Amid Poor Unemployment, PMI, & New Home Sales Data
US Dollar Index
The Greenback marked the day’s high as well as low levels within a bracket of three hours in the European session. The USD Index was taking rounds near its weekly top levels in the morning session. Following a few negative German and Eurozone reports, the EUR/USD pair had dropped significant levels reaching near bottom levels. Taking advantage of the situation, the US Dollar made a jump of around 35 pips reaching near 98.35 levels. However, traders lost hopes over the Greenback post-release of major USD-specific events.
Though the Initial Jobless Claims reported 4K below estimates, Continuous Jobless Claims recorded 6M higher than the market expectation. This report signaled higher unemployment growth in May, creating a negative sentiment around the Index. Also, US May Markit PMI Composite shocked the market, reporting 4.52% lesser than estimates. US New Home Sales Monthly Change for April was 2K below expectation. With the broadcast of all these adverse reports, the USD Index had lost all the gains accumulated earlier today. At 15:23 GMT, the Greenback was trading near 97.97 levels, 0.12% down for the day.
GBP/USD
Cable had extended the previous day’s plunge rally into today’s morning session. The economic calendar remained silent amid the absence of GBP-specific events. However, Brexit tensions kept on troubling the pair. MPs continue to pressurize May to provide a timetable for her resignation. Though the Cable had then dropped to 1.2610 low levels, the pair took a U-turn from this pivotal point. The GBP/USD pair had risen over falling Greenback. Poor US Unemployment figures and May Markit PMI Composite had pushed down the USD Index, thereby elevating rival Pound. The Cable marked the day’s high near 1.2680 levels.
USD/CAD
After opening up in the Asian session near 1.3438 levels, the Loonie started crawling upwards. The USD/CAD pair soared almost 59 pips reaching near the month’s peak spot around 1.3500 levels. But, this growth was short-lived amid bearish USD-specific economic data and the falling Crude prices.
The Canadian Wholesales Sales recorded higher numbers and stood bullish over the pair. Following such optimistic Canadian reports, the pair continued moving north. But laterwards, the Loonie dropped reaching near 1.3464 levels after the release of significant US economic reports. The Unemployment data reported higher figures, whereas the Manufacturing and Service PMI remained bearish than anticipated. Also, the US New Home Sales recorded lesser numbers, adding to more pullback in the pair.
Tumbling Crude prices weighed on the commodity-sensitive CAD. The WTI Oil futures declined 6% today due to OPEC-led supply cuts and rising US Crude Inventories. US-Sino trade tensions escalated after an EU official hinted of Trump’s disinterest to resume trade talks sooner.
EUR/USD
The Euro pair kept sliding down today amid poor German and Eurozone reports but recovered later over plummeting Greenback. The EUR/USD pair initiated the day’s trading session near 1.1155 levels. However, investors lost hope as the critical economic events reported weak figures. The highly significant German May Markit Services PMI came 1.13% lower than estimates. The German Q1 GDP reported in-line with market expectation, providing a neutral impact over the pair. At around 08:00 GMT, the German May IFO figures reported weaker-than-expectation. Adding to this, Eurozone May Markit PMI Composite came near 51.6 over 51.7 forecasts. The combined effect of these weak reports hammered the pair making it reach near 1.1110 low levels.
Fortunately, below-expected USD-specific events saved the pair from a further plunge. The US May Markit Composite PMI and Continuing Jobless Claim showcased adverse figures. Following the release of such weak reports, the Greenback dropped and thereby allowed Fiber to jump. In this way, the Euro pair recovered the earlier day’s losses reaching near the day’s opening levels.
This article was originally posted on FX Empire
