FX Daily Wrap Up

The US Dollar had a bit of a lackluster week, closing near the 1.2970 mark. One of the biggest economic indicators, the monthly payroll report, did little to move the Dollar into new territory and only produced a 50-pip gain. Unemployment numbers hit a 4-month high of 4.6%, which is a slow beginning for a new year. New jobs were expected to come in around 150,000, but weak hiring produced only 111,000 new jobs for January’s payroll. Revisions of prior data from December 2006 confused traders with 405,000 new jobs created for the year. The initial reaction was an increase for the Majors against the US Dollar, but after the notes were thoroughly read, the Dollar bulls pulled the markets back into their proper place. Also in the mix for the Dollar was the University of Michigan’s consumer confidence poll for January and data on factory orders in December. Next week we shall see if the US Dollar can hold-on to it’s gains. XPRESSTRADE Analyst David Hilgeman