NEW YORK (Binary Options Now) – The U.S. Dollar turned in a mixed performance again on Monday against the major foreign currencies. Furthermore, the price of gold was weaker after having reached a new all time high last week.
The Greenback lost ground versus the Euro after ECB President Trichet’s hawkish comments, as well as falling against the Swiss Franc and Canadian Dollar. Nevertheless, the U.S. Dollar was firmer against Sterling, the Japanese Yen, the Aussie and the Kiwi after the release of better than expected Pending Home Sales data that rose 2.1% versus the expected -0.5% decline.
The ADP Non-Farm Employment Change due to be released this coming Wednesday could provide some insight into the U.S. jobs sector. It is currently expected to fall to 206K from 271K. Also, Weekly Initial Jobless Claims data coming out on Thursday has expectations centered on 379K, which is down a bit from last week’s 382K result.
Nevertheless, the employment highlight of the week will likely be on Friday when the U.S. Department of Labor will put out its closely watched monthly Employment Report. The report includes the key Non-Farm Payrolls data that is expected to drop slightly to 191K from the 192K result seen previously, in addition to the Unemployment Rate that is expected to hold steady at 8.9%.
These important numbers often result in consider forex market volatility, so a purchased forex binary options strangle on EURUSD, GBPUSD, USDCHF, USDJPY or any of the commodity currencies versus the U.S. Dollar may offer the binary options trader an opportunity to take advantage of the volatility inherent in the release of these key indicators of health in the U.S. jobs sector.
The binary USD call option leg of this binary options strategy may profit if the employment numbers are significantly higher than what is expected, or the binary USD put option leg may be profitable if the numbers come out substantially lower than the consensus.
The Bank of Japan will release its influential quarterly Tankan report on Friday that is considered a leading indicator of strength in the Japanese economy, with index levels above 0 indicating improving economic conditions. The key Tankan Manufacturing Index is expected to rise to 6 from 5, while the Non-Manufacturing Index is expected to increase to 2 from 1.
Higher than expected Tankan index readings can benefit the Yen, so a forex binary options strategy of buying a JPY call/USD put could be a way to profit if the report shows strength in the Japanese economy that could signal future possible BOJ rate hikes.
Two key indicators of strength in the U.K. housing market will be released next week. The first to be released is the Nationwide House Price Indexes or HPI tentatively due out on Thursday and expected to decline to -0.1% from +0.3% the previous month. Subsequently, the Halifax HPI will come out on Friday that last printed at -0.9%.
Lower than expected housing prices can weaken Sterling, so purchasing some GBP put/USD call forex binary options will allow the binary options holder to potentially profit if the HPI data appears weak.
The Australian Bureau of Statistics will release important information on changes in the total value of sales at the retail level on Thursday. Australian Retail Sales are currently expected to show a rise of +0.4% that is the same as last month’s gain.
A Retail Sales result below the consensus will often hurt the Australian Dollar, so a purchased forex binary AUD put/USD call option will allow the binary options holder to potentially profit if the sales data seems on the soft side.
Statistics Canada will release its monthly GDP data on Thursday that measures changes in the inflation adjusted value of goods and services produced in the Canadian economy, The result is expected to stay steady at +0.5% compared with the previous month.
An outcome below expectations will tend to weaken the Canadian Dollar, so buying a binary USD call/CAD put option can be a profitable purchase if growth data comes out significantly below the +0.5% consensus expectation for Canadian GDP.