What’s next? – USDJPY 02.11.17

The dollar exchanged at 113.88 against the Japanese yen in early hours on Thursday, with the American currency falling under pressure ahead of Friday’s key employment data.

The US dollar index, which gauges the greenback against six major rivals, was trading at 94.41 by the time of this writing, down 0.32 percent.

Ahead in today’s session, attention will be directed to initial jobless claims at 12:30 GMT, with an estimated build of 2,000 to 235,000. At the same time, markets will receive third-quarter nonfarm productivity and unit labor costs, seen at 2.4 percent and 0.5 percent respectively.

Traders will also monitor a batch of FOMC speakers, including Governor Jerome Powell, currently the main candidate to replace Janet Yellen as Chair of the Federal Reserve, at 12:30 GMT. Other FOMC members like Dudley and Bostic are set for 16:20 GMT and 22:15 GMT.

President Donald Trump is expected to announce its choice for Federal Reserve Chair later in the day, with all analysts pointing at Powell, seen as less hawkish than Yellen.

On Wednesday, the US regulator opted to keep its monetary policy configuration without changes, while expressing the economy is in a “solid” position.

The statement said: “The Committee expects that economic conditions will evolve in a manner that will warrant gradual increases in the federal funds rate; the federal funds rate is likely to remain, for some time, below levels that are expected to prevail in the longer run.”

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.

On the data front, ADP and Moody's Analytics reported a 235,000 jobs increase in the US private sector in October, beating an expected 200,000 jobs build.

In other news, the Institute for Supply Management's PMI index came in at 58.7 in October, falling short from an initially estimated reading of 60.

No relevant data was released in Asian. Japanese markets will be closed on Friday as the country celebrates its Culture Day holiday.

Fort Financial Serivces