Forex Major Currencies Outlook (Aug 22, 2016)

Risk aversion appears to have supported the safe-haven currency as reports of the Brexit process being triggered in April next year and downbeat data from Canada reminded traders that the US economy is still one of the more stable ones. There are no major reports due from the US today.

EUR

The euro gave up a bit of ground to the dollar but managed to hold on to some of its wins against the commodity currencies. German PPI came in better than expected on Friday with a 0.2% uptick versus the projected 0.1% rise. There are no reports due from the euro zone today.

GBP

The pound suffered a sharp selloff when UK PM Theresa May suggested that Article 50 could be invoked by April next year, which would mean that the Brexit process would start by then. Data from the UK economy was weaker than expected as public sector net borrowing printed a 1.5 billion GBP deficit. There are no reports due from the UK today.

CHF

The franc returned some of its recent wins to the dollar as there were no major reports to boost the Swiss currency on Friday. There are still no reports lined up from Switzerland today so market sentiment could be the driver of price action.

JPY

The yen gapped down against its forex counterparts over the weekend after BOJ Governor Kuroda hinted that they could lower negative interest rates further. These gaps appear to have gotten closed already but traders could be reluctant to buy the yen in anticipation of additional BOJ easing.

Commodity Currencies (AUD, NZD, CAD)

The Aussie was still one of the worst performers for the day as potential rating downgrades and a slowdown in China's property prices weighed on Australia's outlook. Data from Canada came in weaker than expected as core CPI was flat while headline CPI fell 0.2%. Headline retail sales dropped 0.1% while core retail sales sank 0.8%. Canada's wholesale sales report is due today.

By Kate Curtis from Trader's Way