Forex news for US trading, June 5, 2015:

  • May 2015 US non farm payrolls 280k vs 225k exp
  • Unemployment rate 5.5% vs 5.4% exp on higher participation
  • Average earnings 0.3% vs 0.2% exp
  • Canadian May employment +58.9K vs +10.0K expected
  • OPEC agrees to maintain production levels
  • US April consumer credit $20.5B vs $16.0B expected
  • Fed's Dudley: Fed still likely to start raising rates this year
  • Dudley says rate liftoff will be determined by data
  • Bank of Italy's Panetta says it is key that QE runs to the end
  • Ireland rating boosted to A+ from A by S&P, outlook stable
  • Alpari administrator starts going after negative balances
  • AEP: The IMF is in very serious trouble
  • Baker Hughes US rig count 868 vs 875 prior
  • CFTC Commitments of Traders
  • Gold down $5 to $1172
  • WTI crude oil up $0.87 to $58.87
  • S&P 500 down 7 points to 2092
  • US 10-year yields up 10 bps to 2.40%
  • CAD leads, NZD lags

Non-farm Friday generally leads to a big move and this one didn't disappoint. The numbers were very good and the dollar responded with a big jump. For EUR/USD traders it was painful for a few after a quick jump 50 pips higher in the seconds before the report, followed by a 200 pip drop. The decline was slow to materialize but it extended to 1.1050 with the lows coming just after the US stock market open. Dudley was a bit of a downer for USD bulls and with the squeezes higher in the past week, EUR shorts took profits and the pair climbed back to 1.1115.

USD/JPY surged to a fresh 13-year high at 125.86 from 124.78 on the data. Afterwards, despite the dump in bonds, it was relatively quite trading around 125.55, where the pair closed.

Cable was impressive. It was smashed down to 1.5191 on the data but the lows were almost immediately after the numbers and then it was a steady climb back to 1.5273, only 40 pips below the pre-NFP numbers.

USD/CAD wasn't one for the faint of heart. Canadian employment was even stronger than in the US. The pair was caught in the US-buying spree and didn't fall much at first but a second wave of selling saw it drop down to 1.2400 from 1.2500. But oil fell as the dollar climbed and that led to a reversal to 1.2560 but then oil turned and the pair did again, finishing at 1.2430. Wild trading in that pair.

AUD/USD fell to 0.7600 from 0.7725 after the data and then ranged in a narrowing range around 0.7625.

Have a great weekend and be sure to sign up for Tuesday's webinar.