Forex Today: US Dollar retreats, Gold renews record-high as markets await US data
Here is what you need to know on Wednesday, February 5:
After weakening against its major rivals on improving risk mood and disappointing US data on Tuesday, the US Dollar (USD) struggles to hold its ground early Wednesday. Later in the session, the US economic calendar will feature ADP Employment Change and ISM Services Purchasing Managers Index (PMI) data for January. Investors will continue to scrutinize comments from central bank officials throughout the day as well.
US Dollar PRICE This week
The table below shows the percentage change of US Dollar (USD) against listed major currencies this week. US Dollar was the weakest against the Canadian Dollar.
| USD | EUR | GBP | JPY | CAD | AUD | NZD | CHF | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| USD | -0.34% | -0.79% | -1.07% | -2.66% | -0.91% | -1.35% | -1.27% | |
| EUR | 0.34% | -0.05% | 0.59% | -1.05% | -0.12% | 0.29% | 0.36% | |
| GBP | 0.79% | 0.05% | -0.46% | -1.00% | -0.06% | 0.34% | 0.41% | |
| JPY | 1.07% | -0.59% | 0.46% | -1.61% | 0.30% | 0.65% | 0.43% | |
| CAD | 2.66% | 1.05% | 1.00% | 1.61% | 0.69% | 1.35% | 1.43% | |
| AUD | 0.91% | 0.12% | 0.06% | -0.30% | -0.69% | 0.40% | 0.47% | |
| NZD | 1.35% | -0.29% | -0.34% | -0.65% | -1.35% | -0.40% | 0.08% | |
| CHF | 1.27% | -0.36% | -0.41% | -0.43% | -1.43% | -0.47% | -0.08% |
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 US Dollar from the left column and move along the horizontal line to the Japanese Yen, the percentage change displayed in the box will represent USD (base)/JPY (quote).
The USD Index lost about 0.4% on Tuesday after the US Bureau of Labor Statistics reported that JOLTS Job Openings declined to 7.6 million in December, falling short of the market expectation of 8 million. Additionally, Wall Street's main indexes gained traction after the opening bell, pointing to a positive shift in market mood that didn't allow the USD to stage a rebound. Early Wednesday, however, US stock index futures trade in negative territory.
During the Asian trading hours on Wednesday, the US Customs and Border Protection issued a notice on, noting that additional US tariffs of 10% will apply to Hong Kong as well as mainland China. Meanwhile, the data from China showed that the Caixin Services PMI declined to 51 in January from 52.2 in December.
EUR/USD benefited from the broad USD weakness and registered daily gains on Tuesday. The pair clings to small daily gains but stays below 1.0400 in the European morning on Wednesday. Eurostat will publish Producer Price Index data for December later in the session.
Japan's Economy Minister Ryosei Akazawa noted on Wednesday that the government’s focus is to eradicate Japan's deflationary mindset. “With an ambitious goal to boost minimum wages, the government is trying to eradicate deflationary mindset,” he added. USD/JPY stays under heavy bearish pressure to begin the European session and trades at its lowest level since mid-December near 153.00.
GBP/USD closed in positive territory for the second consecutive day on Tuesday. The pair stays relatively quiet and fluctuates in a tight channel below 1.2500 in the European morning on Wednesday.
The Unemployment Rate in New Zealand rose to 5.1% in the fourth-quarter from 4.8% in the third quarter, Statistics New Zealand reported on Wednesday. This reading came in line with the market expectation and failed to trigger a noticeable market reaction. At the time of press, NZD/USD was trading marginally higher on the day, above 0.5650.
Gold preserves its bullish momentum and trades at a new all-time high above $2,860. Escalating geopolitical tensions after US President Donald Trump proposed resettling Palestinians in neighboring countries seem to be fuelling XAU/USD's rally.
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