Thursday, 20 Jan 2011

USD Sees Signficant Gains in Afternoon Session

The US dollar saw gains against both the Japanese yen and Swiss franc today, following a better than expected US Unemployment Claims figure and Existing Home Sale report. The USD/JPY pair, currently trading at the 82.95 level, is up close to 85 pips from this morning. The USD/CHF is up over 130 pips ine same amount of time, and is currently trading just above the 0.9660 level.

Against the EUR and GBP, the dollar did not fare as well. Investors saw the positive US data as a reason to shift toward riskier currencies like the euro and pound, and away from the safe haven dollar. Currently the EUR/USD and GBP/USD are trading at 1.3490 and 1.5907, respectively.

Tomorrow, traders will want to pay attention to the German Ifo Business Climate and UK Retail Sales figure. Predictions are calling for growth in the German Business Climate figure and a drop in UK retail sales. If true, the euro is likely to see a positive day, while the pound may drop to close out the week.