Here is what you need to know on Thursday, February 8:
Major currency pairs fluctuate in relatively tight ranges in the second half of the week as investors’ search for fresh catalysts continue. Later in the session, the weekly Initial Jobless Claims and December Wholesale Inventories data will be featured in the US economic docket. Policymakers from the European Central Bank (ECB), the Bank of England (BoE) and the Federal Reserve (Fed) will be delivering speeches throughout the day.
The US Dollar (USD) Index edged lower on Wednesday but managed to hold near 104.00. The benchmark 10-year US Treasury bond yield stabilized above 4.1% after the high-yield at the latest 10-year Treasury note auction came in at 4.09%. Early Thursday, the 10-year yield moves up and down in a narrow band at around 4.1% and US stock index futures trade virtually unchanged.
During the Asian trading hours, the data from China showed that the Consumer Price Index rose 0.3% on a monthly basis in January. The annual CPI declined 0.8% in the same period.
US Dollar price this week
The table below shows the percentage change of US Dollar (USD) against listed major currencies this week. US Dollar was the weakest against the New Zealand Dollar.
| USD | EUR | GBP | CAD | AUD | JPY | NZD | CHF | |
| USD | -0.04% | -0.07% | -0.12% | -0.27% | 0.15% | -0.82% | 0.67% | |
| EUR | 0.04% | -0.03% | -0.08% | -0.24% | 0.19% | -0.77% | 0.71% | |
| GBP | 0.07% | 0.04% | -0.05% | -0.20% | 0.22% | -0.74% | 0.74% | |
| CAD | 0.12% | 0.08% | 0.04% | -0.16% | 0.26% | -0.70% | 0.79% | |
| AUD | 0.27% | 0.23% | 0.20% | 0.15% | 0.42% | -0.54% | 0.94% | |
| JPY | -0.16% | -0.19% | -0.24% | -0.26% | -0.39% | -0.98% | 0.53% | |
| NZD | 0.82% | 0.77% | 0.73% | 0.68% | 0.53% | 0.95% | 1.49% | |
| CHF | -0.66% | -0.70% | -0.73% | -0.78% | -0.94% | -0.51% | -1.48% |
The heat map shows percentage changes of major currencies against each other. The base currency is picked from the left column, while the quote currency is picked from the top row. For example, if you pick the Euro from the left column and move along the horizontal line to the Japanese Yen, the percentage change displayed in the box will represent EUR (base)/JPY (quote).
EUR/USD registered modest gains for the second consecutive day on Wednesday. The pair continues to edge higher toward 1.0800 in the early European session.
GBP/USD rose 0.25% on Wednesday but lost its bullish momentum. At the time of press, the pair was flat on the day at 1.2630.
Bank of Japan (BoJ) Deputy Governor Shinichi Uchida said on Thursday that the future rate path depends on economic and price developments at the time. “We will first determine whether conditions have fallen into place to shift policy, then consider the most appropriate means, sequence to do so,” Uchida added. USD/JPY edged higher in the Asian session and was last seen trading in positive territory near 148.70.
The Bank of Canada’s (BoC) latest Summary of Deliberations showed that with inflation still too high and too broad-based, members wanted to be clear in their communications that they were still concerned about the persistence of underlying inflation. USD/CAD continues to stretch lower toward 1.3450 after closing the previous two days in the red.
Gold climbed above $2,040 on Wednesday but lost its traction to close the day flat as the US yields rebounded later in the American session. XAU/USD trades in a narrow channel above $2,030 early Thursday.