Written by Steven Dooley, Head of Market Insights, and Shier Lee Lim, Lead FX and Macro Strategist
USD gains for third-straight session
The greenback was strongly higher for the third session in a row as the US dollar continued to extend a rebound from three-year lows.
The US dollar gained despite a run of poor economic data with Wednesday seeing an unexpected drop in March-quarter GDP while Thursday saw a jump in weekly unemployment claims, up from 223k last week to 241k this week.
The AUD/USD fell 0.3% as the pair continues to find key resistance above 0.6400. Australia goes to the polls in the national election on the weekend.
The NZD/USD was down 0.5% with this pair now down 2.1% from recent highs.
In Asia, the USD/SGD surged higher ahead of the Singapore election with the USD/SGD up 0.5%.
The USD/CNH gained 0.1%.
JPY lower as BoJ holds
The US dollar’s move in Asia was mostly driven by yesterday’s Bank of Japan decision.
The US dollar was higher while the Japanese yen fell sharply after the BOJ decided to keep interest rates on hold at 0.50%.
The JPY’s weakness was clearly seen in the AUD/JPY pair with the Aussie jumping to a one-month high versus the Japanese yen.
The Singapore dollar also hit one-month highs versus the Japanese yen.
US jobs in focus
The highlight tonight will be the US jobs report, due at 10.30pm AEST, with markets looking closely for any signs of cracks in the US labour market.
According to Bloomberg, the market is looking for a lower, 138k result after last month’s higher than expected 228k.
The unemployment rate is forecast to stay steady at 4.2%.
However, shifts in the labour market are historically slow to take effect. As a result, a surprisingly positive result could see the USD extend recent gains tonight.
USD gains ahead of jobs
Table: seven-day rolling currency trends and trading ranges
Key global risk events
Calendar: 29 April – 3 May
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*The FX rates published are provided by Convera’s Market Insights team for research purposes only. The rates have a unique source and may not align to any live exchange rates quoted on other sites. They are not an indication of actual buy/sell rates, or a financial offer.
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