The US dollar took a step back following a four-day rally as markets await the University of Michigan’s (UoM) preliminary Consumer Sentiment Index data for October, while later the day, Statistics Canada will publish the employment data for September.
Democrats and Republicans failed to make any progress in reopening the government after the funding bill, once again, was rejected with a 54-45 vote. The Senate will return on Tuesday and there won’t be any other votes on the bill until then.
Meanwhile, the New York Times reported earlier in the day that the US Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) is calling back a limited number of staff from furlough to complete the September Consumer Price Index (CPI) report.
Nevertheless, it’s unclear whether the inflation data will be released on October 15, as originally scheduled. After rising more than 0.5% on Thursday, the DXY dollar index remained below 99.50 in the European session on Friday, while US stock index futures trade marginally higher.
The unemployment rate in Canada is forecast to edge higher to 7.2% in September from 7.1% in August. The USDCAD pair holds steady at around 1.4000 on Friday after having touched its highest level since April above 1.4030 earlier in the day.
USDJPY holds steady at around 153.00 early Friday and is up more than 3.5% since the beginning of the week, while growing concerns over a political crisis in Japan doesn’t allow the Yen to stage a decisive rebound.
Komeito party leader Tetsuo Saito said on Friday that they cannot agree with the ruling Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) on issues involving money and politics, adding that they want to reset the LDP-Komeito ruling coalition for the time being.
EURUSD lost more than 0.5% on Thursday and closed the fourth consecutive day in negative territory. The pair corrected higher early Friday, but remained below 1.1600.
The GBPUSD stabilised near 1.3300 in the European session on Friday after falling about 0.75% on Thursday.
Easing geopolitical tensions in the Middle East triggered a deep correction in gold on Thursday. After losing 1.6% and closing below $4,000, XAUUSD struggles to gather recovery momentum and fluctuates in a tight range above $3,980.
Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) Governor Bullock said on Friday that services inflation remains “a little sticky” and added that the labour market is close to coming to balance despite being a little tight.
Following Thursday’s 0.5% loss, the AUDUSD pair was clinging to small daily gains above 0.6560 in the European morning on Friday.
(Source: OANDA)
