FX Closing Comments

FX markets jostled around some today, but at the end of the day, prices keep essentially flat ahead of tomorrow's non-farm payroll. Consensus opinion is calling a figure between 120K - 140K. Today's data was, on the whole, mixed, with factory orders down and the Chicago PMI slipping. More optimistically, non-transportation factory orders were rather robust at 1.1%. Inflation was mostly unchanged, with consumer spending up and savings down. The more telling number, however, will be tomorrow's jobs report. A soft figure, say below 100K, may well initiate a bout of Dollar selling. If, on the other hand, the number surprises to the upside, look for Dollar gains against Yen, more so than the Euro, which has been deadlocked for some time. The Dollar has also not benefited from the latest spat of Yen weakness and could be due for some catch-up.