Forex Weekly Outlook – Jun 27 – Jul 1

The dollar strengthened for another week. Will this continue? US CB Consumer Confidence, US Unemployment Claims and Canadian GDP are the key events this week. Here’s an  outlook  for the most influential trading events.

In the FOMC statement last Wednesday, Ben Bernanke undermined the need for QE3 after the termination of QE2 this week, in light of improvement in the US economy from a year ago. Will the continuation of the current slowdown affect the FOMC decision?

Let’s Start

1. US CB Consumer Confidence: Tuesday, 14:00. Consumer sentiment dropped in May to 60.8 a revised 66 in April amid concerns over the job market and business conditions. A small increase to 61.6 is expected.
2. US Pending Home Sales: Wednesday, 14:00. Pending sales of existing homes plunged below expectations in April to 81.9 dropping 11.6%. This is the seventh consecutive drop. Economists expected a decrease of 1.0%. A smaller drop of -0.9%  is forecasted now.
3. Canadian GDP: Thursday, 12:30. Canada’s GDP grew by 1% from January to March, above the 0.8% growth expected. In a monthly bases GDP increased by 0.3% in March following a decrease of 0.1% in the prior month led by a growth of the industrial sectors. A drop of -0.1% is predicted.
4. US Unemployment Claims: Thursday, 12:30. The number of new claims filed for unemployment benefits increased last week by 9,000 to 429,000 above the 415,000 estimated indicating a fragile recovery in the job market. A smaller figure of 427,000 is expected.
5. US ISM Manufacturing PMI: Friday, 14:00. Growth rate increased in the U.S. services sector rising to 54.6 in May from 52.8 in in the previous month. New orders increased to 56.8 from 52.7, while the employment gauge climbed to 54.0 from 51.9. A decrease to 52.2 is forecasted now.

*All times are GMT.

That’s it for the major events this week. Stay tuned for coverage on specific currencies

Further reading:

• For EUR/USD, check out  the  Euro to Dollar forecast.
• For the Japanese yen, read the  USD/JPY forecast.
• For GBP/USD  (cable), look into the  British Pound forecast.
• For the Australian dollar (Aussie), check out the  AUD to USD forecast.
• For the New Zealand dollar (kiwi), read the  NZD forecast.
• For USD/CAD (loonie), check out the  Canadian dollar
• For the Swiss Franc, see the  USD/CHF forecast.