Forex Major Currencies Outlook (Feb 5, 2018)

The economy added 200K jobs in January versus the estimated 181K increase while the December figure was upgraded to 160K. The unemployment rate held steady at 4.1% as expected while the average hourly earnings figure beat expectations with a 0.3% increase versus the estimated 0.2% uptick. The previous reading also enjoyed a positive revision to 0.4%. The UoM index also enjoyed an upgrade. The ISM non-manufacturing PMI is due today but might not have such a huge impact on the dollar since the jobs report was already released. 

EUR

The euro gave up some ground to the dollar but managed to stay strong against the rest of its counterparts. Data from the region turned out mostly weaker than expected, though, with Spain reporting a larger 63.7K increase in unemployment versus the estimated 50.3K figure. Euro zone PPI also came in at 0.2% versus the estimated 0.3% increase. Euro zone retail sales and final services PMI readings are due today.

GBP

The pound struggled to hold on to some of its recent gains when the construction PMI came in weaker than expected. The reading fell from 52.2 to 50.2 to indicate a slower pace of industry growth. The services PMI is due today and a dip from 54.2 to 54.1 is eyed, although another disappointing read could mean more losses for the pound.

CHF

The franc was nearly nonstop in its rallies until the end of the week as risk-off vibes remained in the markets. There were no reports out of Switzerland then and none are due today, so market sentiment could remain the driver of franc price action.

JPY

The yen was in a weak spot for the most part of the day before recovering on profit-taking. The Japanese currency did gap higher at the start of the week to signal that traders were also cashing in on last week's moves. There are no major reports due from Japan, though, so market sentiment could push yen pairs around.

Commodity Currencies (AUD, NZD, CAD)

The comdolls gave up ground to the dollar and most of their counterparts mostly on profit-taking and a pullback in risk appetite. Medium-tier data from Australia like the AIG services index and MI inflation expectations figure showed improvements. China's Caixin services PMI is lined up next and a dip from 53.9 to 53.6 is eyed.

By Kate Curtis from Trader's Way