The US dollar had a mixed week amid hopes for peace in the Korean peninsula, fears of trade wars and also a mixed jobs report. What’s next? Markets will be digesting the latest news from a busy week before focusing on US inflation. Here are the highlights for the upcoming week.
The US Non-Farm Payrolls was mixed: no less than 313K jobs were gained, but wage growth retreated to 2.6% y/y, a significant setback. The Fed is still likely to upgrade its dot-plot in the March meeting, but the path may be more complicated, not only by wages but also because of trade fears. The Canadian dollar moved on any twist in the tariff story, especially as the BOC raised deeper concerns about it. Trump’s tariffs topped the headlines and scared markets, but when Canada and Mexico were exempted, things somewhat calmed down. North Korea is reportedly willing to abandon its nuclear weapons in return for guarantees for its regime. The groundbreaking news sent the safe haven yen and the dollar down. In the euro-zone, the inconclusive Italian elections initially hurt the euro but were then forgotten. Germany finally has a government and that helped the common currency. The pound struggled with worries about Brexit and Australia with a slightly disappointing GDP figure.
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