Firm Dollar Today!

The Dollar was firm throughout the afternoon, after receiving a solid durable goods report and very acceptable weekly jobless claims figure (283,000). The Yen continued to be particularly soft, after the Nikkei rose a full 240 points overnight. It would be too early to declare that last year's pattern of "falling Yen, rising Nikkei" has been reestablished, but the pattern is a familiar one. Tonight will see some important Japanese data --namely CPI and retail sales figures --which have the potential to shake-up Yen pairs.

The USD/CAD broke through the stiff resistance of 1.15, and is currently trading at 1.1493. The pair may be drawing strength from a Bank of Canada economic paper that painted an upbeat analysis of the Canadian economy. 2006 GDP growth was estimated to be above 3%. It remains to be seen if the "loonie" can stay south of 1.15, but thus far, it is holding firm.