Forex news
- US dollar index rose after the Bureau of Labour Statistics released March NFP data.
- The economy lost more than 701k jobs in March while the unemployment rate rose to 4.4% from 3.5%
- The average number of hours and the average hourly earnings dropped and it could get worse
Features & analysis
Latest Forex news
US dollar index falls as jobless claims rise The US dollar index held steady after the Department of Labour released the weekly jobless claims data. The numbers showed that more than 6.6 million Americans filed for unemployment claims in the week that ended on March 27. US dollar holds gains after weak jobless claims data The bleak jobless claims number was worse than the one released last week when more than 3.2 million Americans filed for insur...
The Canadian dollar rose against the US dollar as oil prices surged today. Brent, the global benchmark, rose by more than 10% while West Texas Intermediate (WTI) rose by more than 9%. As of this writing, the USD/CAD pair is trading at 1.4133, which is 0.40% lower than where it opened yesterday. Still, Canadian dollar is down by more than 9% against the greenback this year. Canadian dollar performance against USD this year Crude oil price pushes C...
Norwegian krone continued to strengthen against the euro and the dollar as the market weighed the latest action by the Norges Bank and the government. Norwegian krone gains against euro & dollar On Tuesday, the country’s central bank extended the period in which banks can access F-loans to the end of March. These loans are intended to fund businesses in this time of crisis. The bank also announced its intention to sell foreign exchange on beh...
Eurostat released its monthly report on the Eurozone unemployment rate on Wednesday. The data showed unemployment to have dropped in February to a record low in the past 12 years. According to economists, however, data for the subsequent months is expected to be worse as the Coronavirus containment strategies including business shutdowns and nationwide lockdowns were implemented in the Eurozone in March. Wednesday’s data recorded unemploym...
The Institute for Supply Management (ISM) announced its monthly report on the U.S manufacturing purchasing managers’ index (PMI) on Wednesday. The data showed the activity in the manufacturing sector to have declined in March. The contraction, as per the ISM, was broadly attributed to the ongoing Coronavirus pandemic that has brought economic activity to a near halt. Wednesday’s data revealed the ISM manufacturing PMI at 49.1 in March. In Februar...
The US dollar index rose today after ADP released disappointing nonfarm private payrolls data for March. The report showed that private sector employers slashed about 27,000 people from their payrolls. This was the worst data since September 2010, when employers slashed more than 39k jobs. Still, the number was better than the 150k that Economists surveyed by Refinitiv were expecting. US nonfarm private payrolls better than expected According to...
The dollar index rose in overnight trading after the Federal Reserve pledged to do “whatever it takes” to save the economy from a recession. The statement, which came from San Francisco Fed President, Mary Daly, reminded markets of the infamous words by Mario Draghi, the former ECB chair. He said the same words in 2012 during the European debt crisis. Dollar index gains in first quarter The dollar index, which measures the performance of the US d...
Australia upbeat manufacturing PMI The Australia dollar falls after the Australian Industry Group (AIG) released upbeat manufacturing data. The number showed that the country’s manufacturing sector had an excellent month due to internal demand as more Australians stockpiled. According to AIG, Australia’s manufacturing PMI for March rose to a seasonally-adjusted level of 53.9. This was 9.4 points higher than where it was in February and the highes...
The Conference Board Inc. released its monthly report on U.S consumer confidence on Tuesday. The data showed consumer confidence to have slipped significantly in March as people remain restricted to their homes amidst the Coronavirus pandemic. Tuesday’s data revealed the U.S consumer confidence to have declined to 120 in March. Confidence was recorded at a much higher 132.6 in February. Economists, however, had expected an even steeper drop in th...
The China Federation of Logistics and Purchasing (CFLP) released its monthly report on manufacturing and non-manufacturing purchasing managers’ index (PMI) on Tuesday. The data suggested both sectors to have improved in March following a sharp decline in February that was attributed to the widespread Coronavirus that has so far infected more than 788,200 people worldwide and caused over 37,800 deaths. The CFLP revealed China’s manufacturing PMI a...
The euro declined amid some positive Coronavirus news from the European Union. In a report yesterday, the World Health Organization (WHO) said that the Coronavirus outbreak in the region was peaking. The announcement came as the number of new infections in key countries like Italy and Spain started to decline. Indeed, as shown below, the number of new cases in Italy has declined while the number of recoveries has surged. Still, the current lockdo...
The British pound index edged lower as investors started to worry about Coronavirus contagion risks after UK companies started going into administration. BrightHouse, a rent-to-own retailer went into administration a few hours after Italian restaurant, Carluccio’s filed for bankruptcy. The market is concerned that these bankruptcies will continue as the country remains in lockdown. This is because while most retailers are not operating, their cos...
The Federal Statistical Office of Germany released its monthly report on the prelim consumer price index (CPI) on Monday. The data showed annual inflation to have sunk significantly in Germany this month. March’s reading was also recorded sharply lower than the ECB’s (European Central Bank) target for annual inflation. According to economists, March’s data hints at the need for the ECB to resort to further policy measures to protect the economy a...
Amidst the rising pressure on the economy due to the Coronavirus pandemic, China’s Central Bank took a surprise decision of reducing reverse repurchase agreements rate by 20 basis points. The rate cut marked the largest in around 5 years. According to an announcement via its website, the People’s Bank of China (PBOC) reduced the reverse repo rate (7-day) on Monday from 2.40% to 2.20%. An explanation for the move was not given on the website. Cent...
Positive UK mortgage data The British pound pared back earlier losses against the US dollar after the Bank of England (BOE) released positive February mortgage data. The data showed that mortgage approvals rose to 73,500 in February. This was higher than the estimated 68.21k and the previous 71.34k. The number was also the highest it has been since 2014. Meanwhile, the number of mortgages reapprovals rose to 53,400 while the net mortgage borrowin...
The University of Michigan (UoM) released its monthly report on consumer sentiment in March on Friday. The data showed sentiment to have declined to a 3-year low this month ascribed to the Coronavirus pandemic that is weighing heavily on the U.S economy. The UoM’s consumer sentiment index tanked to 89.1 in March; a reading that was last seen in October 2016. In February, sentiment was recorded at a much higher 101. Economists had anticipated the...
The Bank of Canada (BoC) resorted to another emergency rate cut this month announcing a reduction of 50 basis points in its key overnight rate on Friday. The BoC said it was the need of the hour considering the widespread impact of the Coronavirus pandemic on the financial system and the Canadian economy at large. In an emergency policy meeting held on Friday, Canadian lawmakers decided in favor of slashing the overnight interest rate from 0.75%...