Daily Currency Report

The non-farm payrolls figure sent the dollar into a yo-yo movement on Friday afternoon, as again the data proved to be conflicting. This aside, currency markets enjoyed an active day, headlined by further sterling strength.

GBP
Another round of solid economic data launched the British pound higher against both the US dollar and the euro. Construction sector PMI increased from 57.5 to 57.9, which is the second straight increase and suggests that the housing market may not be as bad as the recent housing price data may indicate.

USD
Over the past year, investors have found the US non-farm payrolls report incredibly difficult to trade. Large revisions are made frequently which is reducing the accuracy and reliability of each individual report. This is exactly what happened on Friday when traders first took the US dollar lower on the disappointing headline release but quickly erased those losses when they saw the massive revisions for the prior months.

EUR
With nothing except eurozone producer prices on the calendar, the euro traded solely off US data. Producer price growth was flat in the month of December, which was right in line with expectations.

JPY
The yen rose against the dollar, euro and pound as investors covered themselves ahead of the G7 meeting later this week in Essen. It is widely known that European officials are urging for discussions to take place regarding the yen's weakness, however the Japanese and Americans are keen to play down the issue.