US dollar falls as unemployment rate rises in January

The Japanese yen was unchanged against the USD after the country reported the household spending data. The currency rose slightly against the euro and the sterling. Earlier today, the country’s statistics office released the household spending data for December. The data showed that spending declined by -1.7%, which was lower than November’s rise of 2.6%. The average monthly consumption expenditures per household was Y321,380, which was 2.4% lower in nominal terms. In addition, the average monthly income per household rose by 4.6% to Y1,074,143. Later on, the preliminary leading index rose from 90.8 to 91.6. This is a number that is a composite of 12 economic indicators from the country. The index has been on a downward trend after peaking at 108.3 on November 2018.

Global stocks declined today as the market reacted to the spreading coronavirus disease. The disease has affected more than 31k people and killed more than 600 others. Today, the market received a number of significant news. First, British luxury company, Burberry warned of a material hit of demand from China. The country has closed 24 of its 64 stores in mainland China. Second, copper traders in China have cancelled shipments as the disease has hit its demand. Third, Flight Centre, Australia’s biggest travel agency, warned that it might not meet its guidance of the year. Meanwhile, in Japan, a luxury ship remained grounded as more than 61 people were infected with the disease.

The US dollar eased slightly after the market received mixed jobs numbers. Data from the Bureau of Labour Statistics showed that the economy added more than 225k jobs numbers. This is higher than the consensus estimates of 160k. It was also higher than December’s gains of 147k. Private nonfarm payrolls numbers rose from 142k to more than 206k. This was lower than 290k number released by ADP. Government payrolls rose by 19k. Another positive was that the average hourly earnings rose by 0.2% after rising by 0.1% in December. On a negative side, the unemployment rate rose from 3.5% to 3.6%.  Meanwhile, in Canada the unemployment rate dropped from 5.6% to 5.5%. The economy added 34.5k, which was higher than the expected 15k.

EUR/JPY

The EUR/JPY pair declined to an intraday low of 120.26. This was the lowest level this week. It started the week at 121.15. The price is trading along the lower line of the Bollinger Bands. It is also below the 14-day exponential moving averages. The price is along the 61.8% Fibonacci Retracement level while the RSI has been moving downwards. The signal line of the MACD too has been declining. The pair may continue moving lower.

EUR/AUD

The EUR/AUD pair rose to an intraday high of 1.6392. This price is along the 38.2% Fibonacci Retracement level. The 14-day and 28-day EMAs have made a bullish crossover. The price is along the upper line of the Envelopes indicator. Meanwhile, the RSI has been moving higher. There is a possibility that the pair may continue moving higher as the coronavirus disease spread.

EUR/USD

The EUR/USD pair rose slightly from a low of 1.0947 to 1.0970. The pair has been on a downward trend this week. It has declined from a high of 1.0955. The price is between the lower and the middle line of the Bollinger Bands. The RSI has been declining this week as shown below. The dots of the Parabolic SAR indicator are slightly above the current price. The pair could see some more movements as the market react to the jobs numbers.