Focus On The Greenback

, , Leave a comment

dollar-strength

Ms. Yellen Reveals Her Powers – Greenback Rises

The Greenback found the impetus to stand up straight on Friday after Fed chairman Janet Yellen’s frank and positive statements about the US economy at Jackson Hole. Traders took the comments as an omen to an impending interest rate hike which of course caused a USD rally. Although she was vague a to the timing of the rate increases, it seems highly possible for the rate increase before the end of the year.

Despite all of the positive data and remarks from officials, there has been recent data revealing some holes in the US economy, such as Friday’s data that the US gross domestic product second-quarter growth was less than expected.

This Week’s Shaker – NFP

Last week the markets were moving as slow as molasses, and we were grateful to see the markets getting stirred up into activity by Ms. Yellen’s comments. Now that the much anticipated Jackson Hole event is behind us, the big event for the week ahead is Friday’s Non-Farm Payrolls Report (NFP) which could confirm recent Fed sentiment or change the ball game all together

A few other high impact events on this week’s Economic Calendar (all times listed is New York time, GMT-4)

Tuesday Aug 30, 10:00   
United States
Consumer Confidence  
Wednesday Aug 31, 03:55 
Germany
Unemployment Change
Wednesday Aug 31, 03:55
Germany
Unemployment Rate s.a.
Wednesday Aug 31, 04:00
Italy
Unemployment
Wednesday Aug 31, 05:00
European Monetary Union
Consumer Price Index (YoY)
Wednesday Aug 31, 08:15
United States
ADP Employment Change
Thursday Aug 31, 21:00 
China
Non-manufacturing PMI / NBS Manufacturing PMI / Caixin Manufacturing PMI
Friday Sep 02, 08:30
United States
Unemployment Rate /  Nonfarm Payrolls / Trade Balance

Other noteworthy events on the calendar are FOMC members scheduled to speak this week. Speakers:

  • Cleveland Fed president Loretta Mester
  • Boston Fed President Eric Rosengren

USD Index

The USD Index, which gauges the strength of the US Dollar against a basket of other currencies, was trading as low as 94.24 on Friday and flew up to 95.63 at the opening of the Asian trading session

Keeping a close eye on the USD Index should give us clues toward the overall sentiment and direction of the Greenback.

usd index

Trading In The Week Ahead

This week will be particularly interesting as we close out the month of August with a few key events on the calendar and culminating with the month’s biggest mover, NFP. This is especially noteworthy as the NFP release is scheduled for a holiday weekend, and US markets are closed on Monday September 5th. So the markets won’t fully digest the NFP data until Tuesday September 6th, although we can still expect to see the usual spikes and reversals that is common to NFP Friday. Learn more about trading during the Non-Farm Payroll Release.

We look forward to Forex signal trading opportunities in the week ahead and especially anticipate an active September.

 

 

Leave a Reply