What’s next? – USDJPY 27.10.17

The dollar exchanged at 114.17 against the Japanese yen in early hours on Friday, with traders awaiting economic expansion data from the US later in the session.

The US dollar index, which gauges the greenback against six major rivals, was trading at 94.70 by the time of this writing, adding 0.20 percent.

US economic data help to support the dollar across the board on Thursday. The National Association of Realtors’ said pending home sales for September were flat, falling below an originally forecasted increase of 0.2 percent.

The Department of Labor said initial jobless claims rose by 10,000 to a seasonally adjusted 233,000 in the week ended October 21, above an estimated build of 12,000.

Today, market attention will be directed to the release of the third quarter GDP at 12:30 GMT. This report could affect expectations for further interest rate hikes in the year.

According to Fed funds tracked by CME Group’s FedWatch tool, investors are currently pricing in more than a 90 percent chance of a rate hike by December.

Investors are expecting a 2.5 percent build from a prior year reading of 3.1 percent. Economists believe the economic growth rate will be affected by recent hurricanes Harvey and Irma.

Also, the University of Michigan is set to release its consumer expectations and confidence indicators at 14:00 GMT, with 91.2 and 100.9 readings seen.

President Donald Trump’s decision about the next Federal Reserve chair capped dollar gains yesterday, as Stanford University economist John Taylor seems to be not as hawkish as market players initially estimated, according to sources.

In the Asian session there were no relevant reports presented. Late on Sunday, Japan will kick off next week with retail sales for September due at 23:50 GMT.

Fort Financial Services