Forex headlines for August 1, 2014:

The US dollar bulls would have taken a strong non-farm payrolls report as a signal the Fed would be raising rates sooner but the numbers didnā€™t cooperate. Not only was job growth a touch soft, wages were flat and the participation rate rose. The dollar immediately kicked lower across the board and after some indecision it stuck to the downside.

USD/JPY immediately fell to 102.70 but then rebounded back to 103.00. After a few bounces and some chop around the ISM number stops were tripped and the pair fell as low as 102.34. Some support from the 200dma and the 61.8% retracement started to kick in there and stocks gyrated but eventually it grinded higher to 102.59 late in the day.

EUR/USD quickly kicked to 1.3430 but then fell back down to 1.3390 on non-farm payrolls but the upside eventually won out and the pair hit 1.3445 at the highs. But the appetite to sell euros late in the day was undeniable and the pair slowly slid back down to 1.3423.

Cable was the dog of the day after a weak manufacturing PMI. Unlike other pairs, it never made a sustained bounce and we close near the lows at 1.6818 in a rough week for the pound.

USD/CAD ran up to 1.0944 in Europe but lurched lower on non-farm payrolls and fell as low as 1.0885 but the bulls are clearly in control of the pair as it climbed back to 1.0924 late in the day.

AUD/USD touched a two-month low of 0.9276 before NFP but finished a tough week with a bounce to 0.9311. NZD/USD was the biggest bouncer and finishes 40 pips off the lows at 0.8506.