The Asian trading session proved to be quiet as investors looked ahead to President Donald Trump addressing Congress later today.
With a sparse economic calendar and capital markets experiencing low volume levels, most major currency pairs were trading in narrow ranges.
The USD/JPY was unable to capitalize on yesterday’s late rally in the North American markets. Having stalled at the 112.80 level, it fell back to 112.35. Once again, the 113.00 level is proving a difficult barrier to break. However, a raft of key data releases from the US later in the day could see that tested.
Key Data Releases Ahead
Following Trump’s address to Congress, the US GDP for Q4, Consumer Confidence and Chicago PMI data will be released. Should the data releases be positive, it will show that economic activity accelerated in the last quarter of 2016. The combination of accelerated growth and probable fiscal stimulus may well provide a boost to the Greenback.
However, traders will be keen to see what types of fiscal stimulus the President intends to introduce.Trump’s stated already that he will not tackle the tax relief issue until Congress decides on the Affordable Care Act.
It is widely expected that today’s data and Congress speech will provide a spark to the US Dollar, however at time of writing, the USD/JPY remains hovering at daily lows.
