US Dollar experienced varied fortunes with US markets shut on Friday

The US dollar experienced varied fortunes on Friday with the US markets shut in observance of the Independence Day bank holiday. Overall, the currency experienced a weekly gain (despite weakening against sterling) – the first in four weeks – thanks to stronger data boosting optimism over the economic recovery.

This week’s economic releases from the US starts on Tuesday, with labour data in the form of the Job Openings Figure. Wednesday then brings the most important event of the week: minutes from the latest US Federal Reserve meeting. Investors are always keen to hear the central bank’s thoughts on future economic prospects, and given the recent run of encouraging data they will be looking for any hints as to when we may see interest rates rise. Finally, on Thursday we see the release of more data from the labour market in the form of unemployment claims which is the last piece of influential data for the week from the US.