Forex Today: Focus shifts to German inflation data, US GDP revision
Here is what you need to know on Thursday, September 28:
The US Dollar (USD) continued to outperform its rivals mid-week and the USD Index touched a fresh 2023-high near 107.00 as the bond sell-off continued, lifting the yield on the 10-year reference above 4.6% for the first time since 2007. Ahead of German inflation data for September, markets stay relatively quiet. The US economic docket will feature weekly Initial Jobless Claims data alongside the final revision to the second-quarter Gross Domestic Product (GDP) growth and August Pending Home Sales.
Growing fears over a US government shutdown and its potential negative impact on the US credit rating, caused markets to continue to sell US bonds. "I don't see the support in the House" for the funding bill presented by the Senate, Republican House Speaker Kevin McCarthy said Wednesday. Top Senate Democrat Chuck Schumer noted that the next procedural vote on the bill is expected to take place on Thursday. Following a positive opening to the day, Wall Street's main indexes lost traction and closed virtually unchanged, reflecting the sour market mood. In the European morning, US stock index futures trade marginally higher.
US Dollar price this week
The table below shows the percentage change of US Dollar (USD) against listed major currencies this week. US Dollar was the strongest against the Swiss Franc.
| USD | EUR | GBP | CAD | AUD | JPY | NZD | CHF | |
| USD | 1.47% | 0.98% | 0.14% | 1.11% | 0.64% | 0.33% | 1.54% | |
| EUR | -1.49% | -0.49% | -1.33% | -0.33% | -0.85% | -1.14% | 0.09% | |
| GBP | -0.99% | 0.49% | -0.83% | 0.15% | -0.34% | -0.65% | 0.57% | |
| CAD | -0.15% | 1.32% | 0.83% | 0.98% | 0.49% | 0.19% | 1.40% | |
| AUD | -1.12% | 0.34% | -0.15% | -0.98% | -0.50% | -0.80% | 0.43% | |
| JPY | -0.66% | 0.85% | 0.36% | -0.51% | 0.49% | -0.30% | 0.92% | |
| NZD | -0.34% | 1.13% | 0.65% | -0.19% | 0.80% | 0.30% | 1.22% | |
| CHF | -1.58% | -0.09% | -0.58% | -1.42% | -0.43% | -0.92% | -1.23% |
The heat map shows percentage changes of major currencies against each other. The base currency is picked from the left column, while the quote currency is picked from the top row. For example, if you pick the Euro from the left column and move along the horizontal line to the Japanese Yen, the percentage change displayed in the box will represent EUR (base)/JPY (quote).
EUR/USD dropped to below 1.0500 for the first time since early January and was last seen consolidating its weekly losses near that level. The annual Consumer Price Index (CPI) in Germany is forecast to rise 4.6% in September, down sharply from 6.4% in August. Ahead of this data, Eurostat will release consumer and business sentiment data for September.
GBP/USD extended its slide and came within a touching distance of 1.2100 on Wednesday. In the European morning, the pair fluctuates in a tight channel below 1.2150.
USD/JPY continued to climb higher on Wednesday but lost its traction before testing 150.00 as investors moved to the sidelines amid growing risk of a Bank of Japan intervention. In the European morning, the pair holds steady below 149.50. Once again, Japanese Finance Minister Shunichi Suzuki said that they won't rule out any steps to respond if there's any excessive volatility in foreign exchange markets.
Gold price suffered heavy losses amid surging US Treasury yields. XAU/USD fell below $1,880 for the first time since March in the second half of the week and was last seen consolidating its losses at around mid-$1,870s.