HomeContributorsFundamental AnalysisUSD Grinds Lower Pre CPI

USD Grinds Lower Pre CPI

The ebb in the US dollar continued Monday as the fallout from non-farm payrolls continued to reverberate. CHF was Tuesday’s top performer, while CAD. Australian home loans data highlights the Asia-Pacific session.

The absence of economic data for North American traders kept the focus on political drama in Japan and Brexit developments. Finance Minister Aso is embroiled in a real estate scandal and that’s raised questions about his entire government, leading to some modest yen strength. Aso is considering not attending this month’s G20 meeting.

Meanwhile, the ebb and flow of Brexit news gave the pound a lift and cable is now testing resistance at the two-week high.

Politics were largely a non-factor and US stock markets were flat. Trump is reportedly interviewing Larry Kudlow to lead his economic team. He is an unabashed free trader and is strongly anti-tariff so that would be a welcome development, albeit a confusing one.

Looking ahead, January Australian home loans data is due at 0030 GMT and expected to dip 0.2% after a 2.3% drop in December.

AUD has been a strong performer since Friday and is trading at a two-week high. The rebound comes after a miserable February but the RBA is slowly growing more optimistic and the solid uptrend since early 2016 is intact. The flipside is that commodities are beginning to struggle. Iron ore has fallen in seven consecutive sessions as uncertainty on steel mounts.

Ashraf Laidi
Ashraf Laidihttp://ashraflaidi.com/
Ashraf Laidi is an independent strategist and trader, founder of Intermarket Strategy Ltd and author of "Currency Trading & Intermarket Analysis". He is the former chief global strategist at City Index / FX Solutions, where he focused on foreign exchange and global macro developments pertaining to central bank policies, sovereign debt and intermarket dynamics. Ashraf had also served as Chief Strategist at CMC Markets, where he headed a global team of analysts and led seminars and trainings in four continents. His insights on currencies and commodities won him several #1 rankings with FXWeek and Reuters. Prior to CMC Markets, Laidi monitored the performance of a multi-FX portfolio at the United Nations, assessed sovereign and project investment risk with Hagler Bailly and the World Bank, and analyzed emerging market bonds at Reuters. Laidi also created the first 24-hour currency web site for traders and researchers alike on the eve of the creation of the euro. Laidi's analysis of currency markets stand out based on his distinct style in bridging the fundamental and technical aspects of the markets. Laidi regularly appears on CNBC TV (US, Europe, Arabia and Asia/Pacific), Bloomberg TV (US, Asia/Pacific, France and Spain), BNN, PBSs Nightly Business Report, and BBC. His insights also appear in the Financial Times, the Wall Street Journal and Barrons. He has given numerous interviews and lectures in Arabic, French, and to audiences spanning from Canada, Central America and Asia/Pacific.

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