Forex Today: Slow start to the week ahead of key data releases

Eren Sengezer FXStreet

Here is what you need to know on Monday, February 12:

Following the previous week's indecisive action, currency markets hold steady to start the new week. The US Dollar (USD) Index moves sideways near 104.00 in the early European session after closing virtually unchanged on Friday. The economic calendar will not offer any high-tier data releases. Several Federal Reserve policymakers and Bank of England Governor Andrew Bailey will be delivering speeches later in the day.

The S&P 500 climbed above 5,000 and closed the previous week at a record high of 5,026.62. Early Monday, US stock index futures trade modestly lower. Meanwhile, the benchmark 10-year US Treasury bond yield continues to fluctuate between 4.1% and 4.2% ahead of Tuesday's highly-anticipated Consumer Price Index (CPI) data from the US. On Friday, the US Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) reported that it revised the monthly CPI increase for December lower to 0.2% from 0.3%. The Core CPI was unrevised at 0.3% for the same period.

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Statistics Canada announced on Friday that Net Change in Employment was +37.3K in January and that the Unemployment Rate ticked down to 5.7% from 5.8%. After falling toward 1.3400, USD/CAD staged a rebound and closed the day flat above 1.3450. The pair continues to fluctuate in a tight range near the previous week's closing level.

After rising nearly 1% on Friday, NZD/USD turned south and declined below 0.6150 in the Asian trading hours on Monday, despite hawkish comments from Reserve Bank of New Zealand (RBNZ) officials. RBNZ Deputy Governor Hawkesby said that the system can cope with high interest rates while testifying before the Finance and Expenditure Committee on Monday. At the same hearing, Governor Orr explained that they have kept the cash rate at 5.5% because inflation is still too high.

US Dollar price today

The table below shows the percentage change of US Dollar (USD) against listed major currencies today. US Dollar was the strongest against the New Zealand Dollar.

	USD	EUR	GBP	CAD	AUD	JPY	NZD	CHF
USD		0.06%	0.05%	0.02%	0.07%	0.01%	0.28%	0.03%
EUR	-0.06%		0.00%	-0.04%	0.02%	-0.05%	0.22%	-0.03%
GBP	-0.06%	0.01%		-0.03%	0.02%	-0.05%	0.23%	-0.03%
CAD	-0.02%	0.04%	0.03%		0.05%	-0.02%	0.26%	0.00%
AUD	-0.07%	-0.01%	-0.02%	-0.05%		-0.07%	0.20%	-0.05%
JPY	-0.01%	0.05%	0.08%	0.02%	0.07%		0.28%	0.02%
NZD	-0.27%	-0.20%	-0.21%	-0.24%	-0.19%	-0.26%		-0.24%
CHF	-0.03%	0.03%	0.02%	-0.01%	0.04%	-0.02%	0.25%

The heat map shows percentage changes of major currencies against each other. The base currency is picked from the left column, while the quote currency is picked from the top row. For example, if you pick the Euro from the left column and move along the horizontal line to the Japanese Yen, the percentage change displayed in the box will represent EUR (base)/JPY (quote).

EUR/USD closed the previous week virtually unchanged and extended its sideways grind slightly below 1.0800 to start the new week.

GBP/USD continues to move up and down in a narrow channel above 1.2600 on Monday. The UK's Office for National Statistics will release labor market and inflation data on Tuesday and Wednesday, respectively.

Following Thursday's upsurge, USD/JPY went into a consolidation phase on Friday. Early Monday, the pair stays relatively quiet above 149.00.

Gold fell nearly 0.5% on Friday as the US Treasury bond yields edged higher ahead of the weekend. Nevertheless, XAU/USD managed to stabilize above $2,020.

Author

Eren Sengezer

FXStreet

As an economist at heart, Eren Sengezer specializes in the assessment of the short-term and long-term impacts of macroeconomic data, central bank policies and political developments on financial assets.

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