Forex Today: Markets quiet down ahead of mid-tier US data

Here is what you need to know on Thursday, September 15:

Following Wednesday's choppy action, markets stay relatively quiet on Thursday. The US Dollar Index holds in positive territory but stays below 110.00, the US stock index futures trade flat and the 10-year US Treasury bond yield moves sideways above 3.4%. In the second half of the day, August Retail Sales data will be featured in the US economic docket alongside the weekly Initial Jobless Claims, NY Empire State Manufacturing Survey and Philadelphia Fed Manufacturing Survey. Finally, the Fed will publish August's Industrial Production and Capacity Utilization figures.

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During the Asian trading hours, China’s State Council announced that the People’s Bank of China (PBOC) will provide more than 200 billion yuan ($28.7 billion) in special lending funds to commercial banks to boost loans to companies. Furthermore, Reuters reported that China's largest four state-owned banks cut deposit rates, effective Thursday. Despite these developments, Shanghai Composite Index ended up closing the day in negative territory.

Earlier in the day, the data from Australia revealed that the Unemployment Rate edged higher to 3.5% in August from 3.4%. The participation rate improved to 66.6% from 66.4% and the Employment Change arrived at +33.5K, slightly below the market expectation of 35K. Following a mixed immediate reaction, AUD/USD started to stretch higher and was last seen rising 0.15% on the day at around 0.6750.

Statistics New Zealand reported the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) expanded at an annualized rate of 0.4% in the second quarter, surpassing analysts' forecast for a growth of 0.2%. Despite the upbeat GDP data NZD/USD struggles to gather momentum and trades in a relatively tight range near 0.6000.

EUR/USD continues to trade below parity on Thursday. The trade deficit in the euro area is expected to widen to €35.5 billion in July from €30.8 billion in June.

GBP/USD managed to register modest gains on Wednesday and seems to have stabilized above 1.15000 early Thursday.

USD/JPY fell sharply on Wednesday amid speculations that the Bank of Japan might be preparing to intervene in foreign exchange markets. The pair gained traction during the Asian trading hours and was last seen trading modestly higher on the day at around 143.50. 

Gold broke below $1,700 during the Asian trading hours and failed to reclaim that level. With European traders entering the markets, XAU/USD extended its slide toward $1,680.

Bitcoin continues to move sideways slightly above $20,000. Ethereum holds steady near $1,600 after having gained more than 4% on Wednesday.

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