The week in Asia ended in a quite fashion, with no data on the agenda and markets range bound ahead of tomorrow’s highly volatile NFP data in the US. The Euro remained close to New York lows, but failed to venture out of a range between 1.3570 and 1.3600 today, staying clear of the 100 Hour SMA above at the 1.3605 level. The continued black cloud over the European currency is the continued concern for the financial state of the Greek nation, which in desperation, may look to sell off some minor islands off of the mainland.
Asian stocks followed the moves in the US and looked favorably upon the positive US retail sales and employment data, pushing the Japanese Nikkei 225 up over 2.0% at one point, and boosting the cross yen pairs ever so slightly for the session. The weaker yen was a welcome sign for the BoJ who just yesterday were looking to fill their war chest with extra funds in case currency intervention was needed. EUR/JPY gained 40 pips to 121.30, GBP/JPY gained 60 pips to 134.40, and AUD/JPY moved to 80.45, completing a run up of 45 pips. USD/JPY although stuck in about a 35 pip range, peaked out at 89.35 late in the trade day.
On the final trade day of the week, all eyes will be keenly focused on the US Non Farm Payroll Employment data that is due up along with the unemployment rate at 8:30am (EST). Have a nice weekend.
