Forex Today: US Dollar recovery loses steam ahead of August jobs report, PMI data

Eren Sengezer FXStreet

Here is what you need to know on Friday, September 1:

The US Dollar holds steady following Wednesday's rally as investors move to the sidelines ahead of key data releases. August jobs report, which will include Nonfarm Payrolls and wage inflation figures, and the ISM's Manufacturing PMI survey will be featured in the US economic docket. Statistics Canada will also release second-quarter Gross Domestic Product growth data in the early American session.

The US data showed on Thursday that the Core Personal Consumption Expenditures (PCE) Price Index rose 4.2% on a yearly basis in July, compared to 4.1% in June. Additionally, the weekly Initial Jobless Claims declined to 228,000 and came in better than the market expectation of 235,000. Following these data releases, the US Dollar Index (DXY) extended its daily recovery and gained nearly 0.5% on Thursday, snapping a three-day losing streak. Early Friday, DXY consolidates its gains above 103.50. In the meantime, the 10-year US Treasury bond yield continues to move sideways at around 4.1% and US stock index futures trade flat.

Nonfarm Payrolls Forecast: US labor market expected to show further signs of cooling in August.

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 Australian Dollar.

	USD	EUR	GBP	CAD	AUD	JPY	NZD	CHF
USD		-0.03%	0.09%	0.05%	0.47%	0.03%	0.40%	-0.11%
EUR	0.04%		0.13%	0.07%	0.49%	0.04%	0.42%	-0.06%
GBP	-0.09%	-0.12%		-0.04%	0.40%	-0.06%	0.32%	-0.20%
CAD	-0.05%	-0.08%	0.05%		0.43%	-0.03%	0.35%	-0.15%
AUD	-0.47%	-0.51%	-0.37%	-0.43%		-0.46%	-0.08%	-0.58%
JPY	-0.03%	-0.03%	0.09%	0.03%	0.45%		0.40%	-0.11%
NZD	-0.40%	-0.42%	-0.29%	-0.35%	0.07%	-0.38%		-0.49%
CHF	0.11%	0.06%	0.20%	0.14%	0.57%	0.11%	0.49%

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).

In the Asian session, the data from China revealed that the Caixin Manufacturing PMI rose to 51 in August from 49.2, highlighting an expansion in the manufacturing sector's business activity.

EUR/USD came under heavy bearish pressure on Thursday and erased a large portion of the gains it recorded in the first half of the week. Investors refrained from betting on a 25 basis points hike in European Central Bank (ECB) key rates in September following the Eurozone inflation readings, causing the Euro to lose interest. Early Friday, the pair stays quiet below 1.0850.

USD/CAD closed the first four days of the week in negative territory and touched its lowest level in two weeks at 1.3490 early Friday. The pair was last seen trading modestly higher on the day slightly above 1.3500. Canadian economy is forecast to post an annualized expansion of 1.2% in the second quarter.

GBP/USD turned south and returned below 1.2700 on Thursday. The pair stays on the back foot early Friday and trades near 1.2650.

USD/JPY stays relatively calm at around 145.50 early Friday. The data from Japan showed earlier in the day that Capital Spending rose 4.5% in the second quarter, falling short of the market expectation for an increase of 5.4%.

Despite the broad-based USD strength, Gold price declined only marginally on Thursday as US Treasury bond yields struggled to gain traction. In the European morning, XAU/USD consolidates its weekly gains at around $1,940.

US August Nonfarm Payrolls Preview: Analyzing Gold price's reaction to NFP surprises.

Bitcoin came under heavy bearish pressure and dropped to the $26,000 area, retracing its weekly uptrend. Ethereum lost more than 3% on Thursday and was last seen trading below $1,650.

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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