Forex today: dollar gets a big boost on strong JOLTS

Forex today had the dollar in favour after a healthy JOLTS report points to the likelihood of wage increases and a US economy on track for further rate hikes in December later this year.

US JOLTS Job Openings June came in at 6.163m vs consensus 5.775m and the 5.702m previous. US NFIB Business Optimism for July also ran up to 105.20 from 103.60 previous. While over in the EM's, S.Africa's rand slide to a near one-month low as Zuma survived the no-confidence vote. There were also eyes on China that vowed to enforce UN curbs on N.Korea while Trump praised cohesion. Towards the closing hours, Mr Trump told reporters on Tuesday: "North Korea best not make any more threats to the US. They will be met with fire and fury like the world has never seen," in response to the Washington Post article that stated N.Korea was now in a position to target the US with nuclear war heads that can fit into their ballistic missiles. 

Still, the FX markets shrugged this off and the yen remains within the lower third of the 110 handle vs the dollar while Wall Street is heading for another positive close. Sterling was making a recovery from 1.2952 lows and post JOLT data doldrums in a fragile state across the board on Brexit concerns, weak UK growth and a less hawkish outlook from the BoE.

The euro dropped the 1.18 handle in a spectacular way after a lack lustre European session, also cut to shreds by the dollar today from 1.1824 down to 1.1715. The metals and oil continued to consolidate, although iron ore still down with underlying concerns about a weak demand outlook amid increasing output at mills. The Aussie was resilient to the pressures from the dollar today, recovering well from the post data lows of 0.7888 to 0.7916. The Kiwi bulls, however, made very little effort and took in the pain down from 0.7370 to 0.7318 - the bird consolidates there into Asia. CAD finished -0.09% at 1.2668.

Key notes from the US session

• US: Job openings increase in June; hires and separations little changed
• US: Streak of economic optimism continues - IBD/TIPP Poll
• OPEC: Talks on compliance in Abu Dhabi will help facilitate full conformity with supply cut deal
• South African Parliament votes in against no-confidence motion on President Zuma
• CBOE Volatility Index spikes higher after Trump comments - Reuters

Key events ahead in the Asian session (GMT)

00:30 AU Consumer Sentiment MM Aug 0.4% prev
01:30 AU Housing Finance MM Jun 1.5% Rtrs f/c, 1% prev
01:30 AU Invest Housing Finance -1.4% prev
01:30 CN PPI YY Jul 5.5% Rtrs f/c, 5.5% prev
01:30 CN CPI YY Jul 1.5% Rtrs f/c, 1.5% prev 
01:30 CN CPI MM Jul 0.2% Rtrs f/c, -0.2% prev