The USD/JPY pair topped to a new 2-week high rising more than 1% this week while Dow Jones is completing the sixth positive week, recording new all-time highs. EUR/GBP printed the third consecutive green day despite the soft data from the Euro area and the mixed indicators of the U.K. labour report.
The British pound was range bounded against the U.S. dollar and the euro, while it rose sharply against the Japanese yen and the New Zealand dollar. The news came out yesterday from the U.K. mixed for the economy. The ILO unemployment rate for the three months to August remained at 4.3% as before, while the unemployed people increased by 1.7K against the forecast of 1.0K and a decrease of 0.2K the month before. Meanwhile, the average earnings including bonus for the months June to August picked up by 2.2% from 2.1% before and above market expectations.
The U.S. dollar was traded mixed against the G10 currencies on Wednesday and early Thursday while the data released was unable to boost the currency. The building permits declined by 4.5% in September against an increase of 3.4% the previous month and the housing starts plunged 4.7% from a contraction of 0.8% in August. The Fed’s Beige book released yesterday had nothing new to impact the domestic currency, neither the speeches of the FOMC members.
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