The first half of the year was rather choppy for the US dollar as massive bets of weakness were scaled down.  Many on Wall Street expected the dollar to weaken as most of the other major currencies were about to deliver significantly more tightening.  Regional growth rotations on an improving outlook from a roaring Chinese economy were also supposed to support the case for strengthening commodity demand.

The dollar might be positioned for a little more short-term strength here as the odds for more Rate hikes have steadily increased while rate cut bets get pushed into next year.  The Fed’s higher for longer stance on rates seems to slowly be winning over some traders.

Macro traders will undoubtedly be following the NFP report, but may fixate over next week’s inflation report.  We could actually get a soft report that gives us a  headline 2.9% year over year reading.  The June inflation report might be a short-term bottom for the disinflation process as the base effects will be responsible for a large part of the decline.  By the end of summer, inflation might prove to be sticky given the current drivers, which includes economic resilience, a strong labor market, and decent spending.

USD/JPY

Sell signals are emerging and intervention talk is brewing given we are at levels that triggered Japanese intervention last year.  Many yen traders are focused on the 145.50 region and the 143.75 level.  Technical traders that follow DeMark indicators are eyeing a potential sell countdown, which would require a drop below the 143.90 level.  If prices closed above the 145.51 level, further upside could target the 150 zone.  Last year, the Demark countdown finished in mid-July and it soon saw an over 6% drop.

EUR/USD

Potential trigger:
Everyone has their eye on the NFP report, but next week’s CPI report could be more impactful.  Wall Street might become more confident after the July 12th inflation report that the Fed will be done after delivering one more rate hike.

EUR/CHF
The Swiss franc might start looking more bullish if the SNB keeps up the hawkish rhetoric. SNB President Jordan is suggesting monetary policy is not tight enough.  Many traders, like ANZ are eying strategies that short EUR/CHF on any spike towards the 0.99 level.

Potential trigger:
Friday’s German industrial production and if economic gloom becomes the dominant theme for the eurozone.

AUD/USD
The RBA rate pause and softer Chinese services data sent the Aussie-dollar lower. Expectations for the Australian dollar to weaken further could grow if they see a much worse slowdown in the economy.  Rate hike odds for the RBA are just over a coin flip for the August 1st meeting, so if the outlook deteriorates further, that could pave the way for more AUD downside.

Potential Trigger:
Friday’s expiration of A$1.5 billion of options at a strike price of 0.6700 could lead to some big moves.