The New Zealand dollar is little unchanged today even after the statistics office released upbeat retail sales numbers. The data showed that electronic card retail sales rose by 16.3% in June and by 8.0% on a year on year basis. The sales had risen by 78.9% in the previous month as the country continued to reopen after the number of coronavirus cases fell. With the number of card-based transactions rising, these numbers are usually seen as being good representatives of the entire retail sector.
The Japanese yen gained against the US dollar after the statistics office released better than expected producer price index numbers. The data showed that PPI rose by 0.6% in June after falling by 0.5% in the previous month. The prices declined by 1.6% on a year on year basis, which is understandable because there was no pandemic in 2019. These numbers came a few days before the Bank of Japan is set to release its interest rate decision. Later today, we will receive the PPI data from the United States.
The Canadian dollar remained steady against the US dollar ahead of the important employment numbers. Analysts expect that the Canadian economy made improvements in the previous month as the country continued to open. As such, they see the economy adding more than 700,000 new jobs in June after it added more than 289,000 jobs in May. Also, they expect the participation rate to drop from the previous 13.7% to 12%. Like the Japanese yen, these numbers will come a few days before the Bank of Canada is set to release its interest rate decision.
EUR/USD
The EUR/USD pair dropped during the American and Asian sessions. It is trading at 1.1270, which is significantly below this month’s high of 1.1372. On the four-hour chart, the price is below the middle line of Bollinger Bands and below the two lines of the envelope indicator. The signal line and histogram of the MACD have been falling. Therefore, the pair is likely to continue falling as bears target 1.1243, which is along the lower line of the Bollinger bands.
XBR/USD
The XBR/USD pair dropped to an intraday low of 42.16. On the four-hour chart, this price is along the ascending trend line shown in white. The price has also crossed the short and medium-term moving averages while the RSI has been declining. While the overall trend of the XBR/USD pair is bullish, a move below this trend line will signal that bears are prevailing. That could see the price falling as bears attempt to test the next support at 41.0.
NZD/USD
The NZD/USD pair declined slightly to the current level of 0.6555. This price is slightly below this week’s high of 0.6600. The price is slightly above the 50-day and 100-day EMA on the four-hour chart. It is also above the ascending trend line that is shown in white. Therefore, the pair will likely continue rising as bulls attempt to move above 0.6600.
