U.S. FOMC Minutes & ADP Expected; Euro Boosted From Retail Sales

All eyes are on the FOMC minutes and the ADP number coming out today, two days before the NFP report on Friday. Greenback and sterling have been traded virtually unchanged versus the G10, while the single currency edged higher supported by retail sales.
U.S. FOMC Minutes and Macro Data in Focus Ahead of NFP
The data released from the U.S. attracted the attention from the meeting of U.S. President Donald Trump with President of the People's Republic of China Xi Jinping in Florida which is due on Thursday. The U.S. trade deficit dropped sharply in February as imports from China decreased by a significant amount and the U.S. exports edged higher from the third consecutive month. According to the Commerce Department, the trade deficit fell to $43.6 billion, 9.6% lower than January’s deficit of $48.2 billion. The exports rose just 0.2% to $192.9 billion while the exports declined 1.8% to $236.4 billion as the imports from China plunged $8.6 billion. The factory orders rose by 1% in February versus an upwardly revised 1.5% in January, recording the first slow down since November which plunged by 2.3%.
Even though traders paid attention to the data released, the focus for the day are the FOMC minutes and all the indicators will be helpful to get a clearer picture of what to expect on Friday’s NFP report before they open their positions. The U.S. dollar has been traded marginally higher against all the other G10 currencies with exception against the euro. The FOMC minutes will give a further indication on the path of the monetary policy for the year after they raised their funds rate twice in the last four months. The dot plot released after the Fed interest rate decision to increase rates by 25 basis points to 1% in March, forecasts two more rate hikes in 2017...
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