Eurozone, Canadian Data Headlines Quiet Monday Session

The nonfarm payrolls hangover will be on display on Monday, as investors contend with a relatively light release schedule following the US jobs report on Friday.

Monday’s session kicks off at 05:45 GMT with a report on Swiss unemployment. The government is forecast to show a jobless rate of 3% for March, up slightly from 2.9% the previous month.

Fifteen minutes later, Germany’s statistics department will report on the February trade balance. Berlin’s trade surplus is expected to widen to €21.8 billion in February from €21.3 billion the month before. Germany is responsible for about one-third of the Eurozone’s gross domestic product, which makes the monthly trade figures that much more important.

Japan will see a late data release at 06:00 GMT in the form of the Eco Watchers Survey. The March outlook report is forecast to rise only slightly from the previous month.

Shifting gears to the United Kingdom, the Halifax house prices index for the first quarter will make headlines at 07;30 GMT. House prices are forecast to decline 0.1% in March. This translates into a year-over-year gain of 3.1% in the quarter ended March.

Sentix will report on Eurozone investor sentiment at 08:30 GMT. The investor confidence index likely slipped 3.5 points to 20.5 in April from 24.0 the previous month.

Canadian data will headline the North American release schedule on Monday beginning at 12:15 with a monthly report on housing starts. Later in the day, the Bank of Canada (BOC) will issue its latest business outlook survey.

USD/CAD

The greenback is coming off a rocky Friday session after government data reported a dismal 103,000 nonfarm payrolls tally for March. The USD/CAD settled at 1.2780 on Friday and was little changed at the start of Monday’s Asian session. At current price levels, strong support is found at 1.2665, which represents the double-bottom formation for November. On the opposite side of the ledger, immediate resistance is located 1.2945, which capped off the recent high for the pair.

EUR/USD

Europe’s common currency swung higher on Friday to briefly challenge the 1.2300 USD handle. Prices were last seen trading at 1.2275, where they were little changed from the previous close. EUR/USD faces immediate support at the 1.2250 level. The pair is eyeing the 1.2375 resistance, which could open the door to a bigger rally north of 1.2400.

GBP/USD

The Cable jumped more than 100 pips on Friday as the US dollar backtracked against a basket of world peers. GBP/USD continued higher at the start of the week, with prices briefly crossing the 1.4100 handle. A clean break above 1.4100 would lead to a re-test of the 1.4135 resistance on route to 1.4200. On the opposite side of the ledger, immediate support is found at 1.4065.