Forex Today: US Dollar rally pauses ahead of consumer confidence data

Here is what you need to know on Friday, October 10:

The US Dollar (USD) takes a step back following a four-day rally as markets await the University of Michigan's (UoM) preliminary Consumer Sentiment Index data for October. In the second half of the day, Statistics Canada will publish the employment data for September.

Democrats and Republicans failed to make any progress in reopening the government after the funding bill, once again, was rejected with a 54-45 vote. The Senate will return on Tuesday and there won't be any other votes on the bill until then. Meanwhile, the New York Times reported earlier in the day that the US Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) is calling back a limited number of staff from furlough to complete the September Consumer Price Index (CPI) report. Nevertheless, it's unclear whether the inflation data will be released on October 15, as originally scheduled. After rising more than 0.5% on Thursday, the USD Index stays below 99.50 in the European morning on Friday, while US stock index futures trade marginally higher.

The Unemployment Rate in Canada is forecast to edge higher to 7.2% in September from 7.1% in August. USD/CAD holds steady at around 1.4000 in the European morning on Friday after having touched its highest level since April above 1.4030 earlier in the day.

USD/JPY holds steady at around 153.00 early Friday and it's up more than 3.5% since the beginning of the week. Growing concerns over a political crisis in Japan doesn't allow the Japanese Yen to stage a decisive rebound. Komeito party leader Tetsuo Saito said on Friday that they cannot agree with the Japan’s ruling Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) on issues involving money, politics, adding that they want to reset LDP-Komeito ruling coalition for the time being.

EUR/USD lost more than 0.5% on Thursday and closed the fourth consecutive day in negative territory. The pair corrects higher early Friday but remains below 1.1600.

GBP/USD stabilizes near 1.3300 in the European session on Friday after falling about 0.75% on Thursday.

Easing geopolitical tensions in the Middle East triggered a deep correction in Gold on Thursday. After losing 1.6% and closing below $4,000, XAU/USD struggles to gather recovery momentum and fluctuates in a tight range above $3,980.

Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) Governor Bullock said on Friday that services inflation remains "a little sticky" and added that the labor market is close to coming to balance despite being a little tight. Following Thursday's 0.5% loss, AUD/USD clings to small daily gains above 0.6560 in the European morning on Friday.