Forex Major Currencies Outlook (Dec 05, 2016)

The actual figure came in line with estimates of a 178K increase in hiring while the unemployment rate indicated a larger improvement to 4.6%. However, average hourly earnings fell 0.1% instead of rising by 0.2%, suggesting weak wage growth. The US final services PMI and ISM non-manufacturing PMI are due today.

EUR

The euro suffered sharp losses and gapped lower against most of its peers this week after the Italian referendum rejected the proposed constitutional amendment. This has led PM Renzi to step down from his post, triggering additional political uncertainty in the region and possibly worsening the ongoing banking crisis in Italy. Euro zone retail sales and services PMI readings are up for release today.

GBP

The pound managed to advance in the forex race as traders flocked away from the euro and onto the UK currency instead. Apart from that, UK construction PMI beat expectations by rising from 52.6 to 52.8 instead of falling to 52.3. UK services PMI is due today and a dip from 54.5 to 54.2 is expected.

CHF

The franc was able to take advantage of euro weakness but was no match to pound strength. Swiss GDP was flat in Q3 instead of posting the estimated 0.3% expansion. There are no reports due from the Swiss economy this week but traders could be on edge for central bank intervention in light of the Italian referendum outcome.

JPY

The yen was able to recoup some of its recent losses as risk aversion returned after the Italian referendum. There were no reports out of Japan on Friday while today has the consumer confidence index due.

Commodity Currencies (AUD, NZD, CAD)

The Loonie was able to hold on to its post-OPEC gains and also benefit from stronger than expected Canadian jobs data. The economy added 10.7K positions instead of losing 16.5K workers while the unemployment rate improved. In New Zealand, PM Key also stepped down, bringing political uncertainty to the mix as well.

By Kate Curtis from Trader's Way