Consumer prices in the United States advanced last month but less than analysts expected. The Labour Department reported on Friday that its CPI rose 0.2% in April, following the preceding month's drop of 0.3% but missing expectations for a 0.3% gain. Furthermore, the so-called core inflation rate climbed 0.1% last month, compared to the previous month's fall of 0.1%, whereas analysts anticipated an increase of 0.2%. However, both figures pointed to a tightening labour market and solid inflation growth, suggesting that the Federal Reserve will likely raise interest rates at its June meeting. April's inflation rebound was mainly attributable to the oil price rebound. Other data released by the Commerce Department showed retail sales rose 0.4% in April, following the prior month's upwardly revised gain of 0.1% and falling behind forecasts for a 0.6% increase.
Meanwhile, core retail sales, which exclude volatile items, climbed 0.3%, unchanged from the preceding month's upwardly revised reading, while analysts anticipated a 0.5% climb. According to the Atlanta Fed, the economy is set to expand 3.6% in the Q2 of 2017.
Uneventful Monday
USD/JPY sets off with a rally
The USD/JPY currency pair appears to have topped out last week, with the 114.40 mark being the reversal point. Poor US fundamentals contributed to the U-turn, causing the Greenback to weaken further against the Yen. However, due to the pair opening with a bearish gap today, the Buck managed to regain some of its bullish momentum, paving its way towards erasing Friday's losses. Technical indicators support this possibility, but the 114.00 major level is still expected to be out of reach. Overall, this recovery is likely to be a minor setback in the US Dollar's bearish trend, as demand, represented by the 200-hour SMA, which caused the reversal, should not succeed again this week.Daily chart
Today 63% of traders are bears (previously 65%), while all pending orders are equally divided between the buy and the sell ones.
Right now 50% of OANDA clients are bulls, losing three percentage points from before, first time the sentiment turned neutral in a long time, now risking to turn bearish. In the meantime, Saxo Bank clients manage to retain a neutral outlook towards the US Dollar, being that 51% of their open positions are now short and the remaining 49% are long.
Spreads (avg, pip) / Trading volume / Volatility
Traders are becoming increasingly bullish on the Dollar