Here are the Top Forex Developments for the trading week between 01/05/15 and 01/09/15:
Number One: US NFP
The US economy added more jobs in December than expected as the NFP report showed the addition of 252,000 jobs which beat expectations for an increase of 240,000. The unemployment rate decreased to 5.6%. Two month revisions added an additional 50,000 jobs. The bad news came on the labor force participation which decreased to 62.7% and the biggest surprise was the contraction of 0.2% in average hourly earnings. The US Dollar dropped before recovering losses.
Number Two: UK Industrial & Manufacturing Production
The UK economy performed much better in the manufacturing sector in November while industrial production was a bit shaky. Manufacturing production rose 0.7% in November month-over-month and 2.7% year-over-year. Industrial production contracted 0.1% month-over-month and rose 1.1% year-over-year. The data was strong enough to lend support to a stronger British Pound.
Number Three: Australian Retail Sales
Retail sales in Australia unexpectedly contracted by 0.1% in November which compares to October’s increase of 0.4%; economists expected a slowdown to an increase of 0.2%. The Australian Dollar managed to ignore the negative data point and rally to close the trading week higher. The disappointment makes the December release an important one as it will gauge how much the consumer spent around Christmas.
Number Four: Eurozone CPI
Deflation visible in the Eurozone CPI helped the Euro move sharply lower during the trading week. The CPI showed a contraction of 0.2% in December year-over-year. Economists expected a contraction of 0.1%. Dampening the sell-off in the Euro was the core CPI which showed an unexpected acceleration to 0.8% year-over-year. Economists expected an increase of only 0.7%. The Euro managed to recover from almost a one decade low below 1.1800.
Number Five: Eurozone Retail Sales
Bolstering the Euro was an unexpected report on Eurozone retail sales which showed an increase of 0.6% in November month-over-month while October was revised higher to show an increase of 0.6% as well. Forex traders focused more on the negative news out of the Eurozone, but once a rally takes hold positive economic data will be pushed to the forefront. The Euro started to rebound from its lows and traded back above 1.1800 from where more upside is possible.