Currency Markets Consolidate in Thin Holiday Trade Ahead of US Jobs Report

Key Overnight Developments

• British Pound, Canadian Dollar Lead Majors’ Correction Lower Against USD
• Japan’s Monetary Base Grows at Slowest Pace in 15 Months, Reinforcing Deflation




The British Pound and the Canadian Dollar were the only significant movers in Asian trade, tracking 0.3 percent lower as prices corrected after outperforming against the US Dollar in New York trade. The Euro also edged lower slipping 0.2 percent against the greenback.




Currency markets consolidated in narrow ranges in Asian hours as traders braced for the upcoming release of the US Nonfarm Payrolls report. The figures are set to cross the wires while trading is closed for the Good Friday holiday and traders had been adjusting their positions for the most likely scenario in the 48 through the end of today’s US trading session, with risky assets broadly higher amid expectations that the world’s largest economy will add 184,000 jobs in March, the largest increase in three years.

Japan’s Monetary Base grew 2.1 percent in the year to March, the slowest annual increase in 15 months, hinting that deflation will remain as a lingering issue for the world’s second-largest economy and reinforcing the Bank of Japan’s “extremely accommodative” monetary policy stance that saw policymakers double their bank lending program to 20 trillion last month.




The economic calendar is essentially negligible in European hours, hinting that consolidation will continue until the US jobs report is released late into the session. Major exchanges will be closed for the Good Friday holiday, pointing to thin liquidity conditions that may amplify volatility and boost FX transaction costs heading into the end of the trading week.


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