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The USD continued to trade near the lower parts of its range versus the major currencies on Friday and this took place on the heels of a poor Non Farm Employment Change number. The U.S. is on holiday today for the Independence Day holiday. Thus, the global marketplace may be relatively quiet with sudden bursts of volatility because of lower volume. The result of the jobless report from the United States highlights that a recovery remains difficult to grasp and that job creation has not been solved. While the Unemployment Rate fell, what concerns investors (and likely the American public) are the statistics which shows that private sector employment is simply not improving and that companies are reducing the amount of pay employees are earning. Europe will release Retail Sales figures today, along with Final Services PMI and the Sentix Investor Confidence reading. None of these numbers are expected to show significant gains. The U.K. is scheduled to publish is Services PMI outcome and this report is also expected to show a flat outcome.

Tomorrow the U.S. will release the ISM Non Manufacturing PMI data and it too is forecasted to show that the economy is still struggling. Wall Street and other global equities have taken the recent flurry of poor economic data badly and have shown little faith in long term prospects. The EUR finds itself around a six week high against the USD, and the JPY also continues to perform strongly. However, the reasons for these two results are significantly different. The EUR still has many questions regarding some of the E.U. nations and their ability to meet their debt obligations. There are also concerns regarding liquidity issues. While the ECB continues to make optimistic pronouncements, investors fear has not gone too far away. The EUR’s recent move may be a short term bounce based on beliefs the Single Currency has been oversold. The JPY continues to behave as a magnate for safe haven trading as obvious questions about long term prospects hit Asia and their counterparts. The GBP has done well the past couple of weeks and this has developed as the U.K. government has taken a stance with tough austerity measures. Today’s trading may test ranges, but the results will have to be looked upon with suspicion in lighter than normal markets due to the American holiday.

Caution and tentative trading came back into the broad markets swiftly on Wednesday as economic data from the U.S. managed once again to emphasize that not all is well. The USD gained on the EUR and GBP after the Building Permits and Housing Starts both proved negative. The gains by the Greenback were not accomplished with much volatility, but there is no denying that risk appetite took a hit and investors promptly began to express weary trading on Wall Street too. The Building Permits outcome was .57 million compared to the anticipated figure of .63 million and the Housing Starts numbers were equally disappointing. Crude Oil Inventories also showed an increase, perhaps indicating that even though Americans are driving in their historically high usage months that demand is not significant. Today the States will release weekly Unemployment Claims and the Philly Fed Manufacturing Index.

Although risk appetite did raise its head earlier, it does appear that the bad data yesterday combined with previously discouraging retail and jobless reports put a dent into sentiment. The Fed report from Philadelphia and the Unemployment numbers today could be enough to cause volatility if they do not provide better outlooks – and it should be noted that both publications are anticipated to be rather flat. Meaning that Wall Street could use any additional bad news today to trade lower and the USD may find investors grasping for safe havens. Tomorrow there will be a lack of economic news from the States and this means that today is likely to be heavily influenced by the data on the calendar and the prospects for a robust recovery. Having seen rather lackluster releases come from the U.S. the past two weeks, investors could not be faulted for thinking that negative news may highlight the day.

Economic data from Europe was rather light and the EUR traded under the gyrations of risk sentiment. CPI releases from the E.U. proved lackluster, demonstrating once again that inflation is not a predominant theme in the current environment. Europe continues to demonstrate that its prospects for a strong recovery will remain a difficult task. However, the EUR lost ground to the USD probably due to a decrease in risk appetite coming from dollar centric developments because of poor data across the ocean. The E.U. will be holding another crisis summit in Brussels today to discuss the Sovereign Debt issues and austerity measures that its nations are being asked to consider. While investors have shown a certain degree of comfort in recent days with the EUR and allowed it to find stability there should be little doubt that the wrong turn of a card could cause it to stutter step again. The EUR enjoyed a few steady days of sunshine, but traders will have to watch for risk adverse clouds.

The Sterling turned in a rather flat trading session while losing a bit of ground to the USD on faltering sentiment. Today will be a big day of data from the U.K. with Retail Sales and CBI Industrial Order Expectations. Both sets of numbers will be watched by investors with the knowledge that recent publications from the U.K. have been at best a mixed bag. There is plenty of talk that the government is going to revise existing growth expectations downward in the coming weeks and because of this ‘the market’ has been braced for bad news. The GBP was able to gain earlier this week with increased risk sentiment, but this may have been a short term move within a trend that has put the Sterling under pressure.

The consolidated range that the JPY and USD has been undertaking for months continues. Asian bourses found themselves in weaker territory on the heels of less than promising data from the U.S. yesterday. With important data ready to come from the States today and Wall Street showing signs of nervousness it would not be surprising to see risk adverse trading increase these next two days of trading.

Once again the USD traded within a range bound consistency, but did lose some ground to the EUR and GBP. Wall Street struggled on Wednesday and this occurred with little in the way of economic data. Ben Bernanke spoke at a Federal Reserve conference in Richmond and issued warnings about the lack of private sector growth and its implications. Bernanke also went on to say that the U.S. does face risk from the European debt crisis and that the Federal Reserve is poised to counteract negative impacts. He additionally spoke about the size of budget deficits in America and the potential for this debt to come back and haunt the economic landscape if not acted upon. Thus investors were given another spoonful of less than optimistic rhetoric, and this time it was from someone they have come to rely on to give a more optimistic viewpoint.

Today the U.S. will release weekly Unemployment Claims and the numbers are expected to improve slightly. Trade Balance data will also be published. The jobless situation remains a primary concern among investors as they continue to ask where job creation will come from. Tomorrow Retail Sales figures and the Prelim Consumer Sentiment reading are on the calendar. Wall Street has for the most part traded in negative territory all week, and going into these last two days of the week will somehow look for an opportunity to bounce upwards. However, with a slew of negative sentiment abounding, an equity rally may prove difficult without a good surprise from economic data and where that will come from is hard to guess. The USD has traded in a cautious manner this week and has actually lost some ground to the EUR, but the fact remains that the Greenback is within the stronger parts of its range versus the Single Currency. Thus traders going into these last two trading days will have to be prepared for additional short term movements, which could reverse on a dime if risk adverse sentiment suddenly increases.

The JPY gained against the USD on Wednesday under another wave of risk adverse trading leading up to today’s risk events from Europe and the United States. Asian bourses have found themselves under pressure this week with most gains only coming after poor performances. Gold is trading around 1224.00 USD an ounce and it may prove a very good barometer today and tomorrow.

The currency and equity markets traded in rather consolidated fashion on Tuesday. Market participants continue to exhibit nervousness and there has been little in the way of economic data so far this week in order to push them off of the fence. The USD traded in range against the EUR and GBP as traders displayed little conviction. Wednesday’s calendar will be rather light for data as Crude Oil Inventories and Wholesale Inventories numbers come forth, along with Beige Book figures. Ben Bernanke may find himself the focus for many in what may prove to be an otherwise quiet day of news. Tomorrow Trade Balance, weekly Unemployment Claims, and the Federal Budget Balance will all be reported and if today proves to be another tentative session, it could be Thursday that sees data cause an impact. Wrapping up the week on Friday will be Retail Sales and Consumer Sentiment statistics.

Thus, investors who last week reacted badly to a poor Non Farm Employment Change number may be holding their breath as they wait to see where American consumers are lining up (or not lining up as may be the case). The GDP from the States relies heavily upon the American pocketbook – as do many export nations – and unless people begin to spend more there stands the chance that stagnation will become the byword instead of recovery. Until powerhouse economic data is produced from the jobless front it remains doubtful that the Retail or Consumer numbers will astonish anybody. The additional problem now exist – which is still being played down by American officials – that if the European financial crisis truly ruptures and causes contagion, that international economies including the States are likely going to find themselves effected by the spillover and it will not be in a positive manner. The USD finds itself holding serve and traders in the meantime may find some opportunistic ranges.

The EUR managed to trade in range on Tuesday as investors cautiously moved in what are still nervous circumstances. German Industrial Production data was released and turned in a slightly positive outcome, but as mentioned yesterday the numbers were not exactly the talking point of the day. Instead what remains in focus are stories about Spanish banks and their liquidity and what are the real possibilities of a restructuring of Sovereign Debt unfolding among troubled E.U. nations. Tomorrow the ECB will hold their monetary policy meeting and press conference. And going into the event, investors will be well aware that the previous press conference did not go too well for ECB President Trichet who fumbled for answers and promptly sent the EUR into a spiral. The EUR finds itself at a critical juncture in terms of value and there can be no doubt that traders are viewing its current levels carefully. Europe will be quiet regarding data today and risk sentiment is sure to be determined largely by news and rumors that are circulating among market participants.

The Sterling, like its counterparts, found itself mired in a rather tight range on Tuesday. The U.K. will release its Trade Balance statistics today, but the likely focus of investors will be on comments coming from the government regarding fiscal policy and belt tightening. Also it would be wise to keep in mind that the Bank of England holds their monetary policy meeting tomorrow and will announce its outcome. Coming on the heels of the first full month in power for the Conservatives in their coalition it will be of interest for investors to see if the BoE and acting government see eye to eye. The GBP is still within the lower realms of its value against the USD. The Sterling has been under a steady shadow of Sovereign Debt questions because of the EUR centric sphere and high deficits in the U.K. – and this has proven a volatile mix.