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USD: US interest rates under the microscope

By Ricky Bean October 10th, 2016

Thanks to further weakness in sterling, the US dollar looked as though it strengthened throughout Friday. Even with negative data releases, weakness in the US dollar was hard to come by.

With average hourly earnings posting an expected figure, attention soon turned to the non-farm employment change, which was lower than expected. Alongside this, we had the unemployment rate showing an increase. None of the US Federal Reserve members who spoke during the day said anything that caused the market to move, so any US dollar activity was largely due to sterling movement.

We see a quiet start to this week, with minimal data releases. Attention will be on Wednesday’s Federal Reserve meeting minutes. Any announcements related to interest rates could have a significant effect on the dollar.

Thursday will see the release of the weekly unemployment claims, data on as well as import prices. Friday will be yet another key day for data releases, with Producer Price Inflation (PPI), retail sales figures and consumer sentiment data all due to be released.