North American Summary and Highlights 5 Sep
Overview - The USD was marginally lower ahead of the US employment report and extended losses on weak data. USD/CAD was an exception, with Canada’s employment report even weaker than the US one.
North American session
The USD saw some slippage ahead of the non-farm payroll release on suggestions that technical difficulties could delay the release, but the data was released as scheduled. A soft report extended the USD’s losses, with payrolls up only 22k, and unemployment up to 4.3% from 4.2%, though that was on a rise in the labor force. USD/JPY slipped from above 148 to see lows below 147 before recovering to 147.40. EUR/USD rose to a high of 1.1760 from near 1.17 before correcting to 1,1720.
Canada’s employment report was even weaker than the US one with employment down by 65.5k and unemployment up to 7.1% from 6.9%. USD/CAD rose to 1.3850 from 1.38. AUD/CAD gains failed to break .91, which left AUD/USD gains on the day as marginal.
European morning session
The USD was generally weaker through the European morning, losing 0.1-0.2% across the board. Early on GBP made some modest gains against the EUR after UK retail sales data for July showed a larger than expected 0.6% m/m increase. But the gains didn’t last, in part because the better m/m rise was not mirrored in the y/y data, as there were substantial revisions to the back data due to previous faulty seasonal adjustment. The underlying trend remains broadly neutral but with a mild weakening in the last few months.
German factory orders were weaker than expected, falling 2.9% m/m in July, while Eurozone Q2 employment growth and GDP were as expected at 0.1% q/q, but had no EUR impact. EUR/SEK dropped 3 figures to 11.00 reversing yesterday’s gains.