What’s next? – USDJPY 03.11.17

The dollar exchanged at 114.10 against the Japanese yen on Thursday as of 07:55 GMT, adding 0.02 percent, with the American recovering ahead of NFP data.

The US dollar index, which gauges the greenback against six major rivals, was trading at 94.68 by the time of this writing, up 0.10 percent.

Yesterday, the dollar came under moderate pressure following the appointment of FOMC Governor Jerome Powell to become the next Federal Reserve chief.

On the data front, the US Labor Department said initial jobless claims dropped to 229,000 last week, down from a previous reading of 234,000 and 235,000 seen.

In a separate report, third-quarter productivity increased by 3.0 percent, above expectations for a 2.4 percent build. Unit labor costs were in line with estimated values at a plus 0.5 percent.

No relevant data was released in Japan as the country is on holiday. Markets were closed.

Ahead in today’s session, focus will be at October’s labor data at 12:30 GMT, including average hourly earnings, nonfarm payrolls and the unemployment rate. Economists are expecting to see an addition of 310,000 jobs in the US private sector and a 0.2 percent rise in salaries.

Attention will also be directed to trade balance figures for September as of 12:30 GMT, with a $43.20 billion deficit seen. Factory orders for September and ISM non-manufacturing PMI for October are due at 14:00 GMT.

If employment data comes in line with expectations or above them, the pair is likely to rise until 114.5 and 115 in extension. On the contrary, a bad outcome could open the way for a downward correction to 113.00 or even lower depending on the results.

Fort Financial Services