FX traders did not give the US dollar a lot of respect, despite the higher than expected nonfarm payrolls gains, posted Friday.  Instead, the US dollar opened this morning will small losses across the board.

Traders were enthralled with the launch of Bitcoin Futures trading.  January futures jumped to over $18,000 from $15,000, twice triggering circuit breakers. In January 2017, a Bitcoin was worth $750-$920.

In Asia, NZDUSD drifted sideways until the New Zealand government announced that Adrian Orr would become the next Governor of the Reserve Bank of New Zealand.  Mr Orr is thought to be a tad more hawkish than his predecessor which gave NZDUSD a boost, from 0.6837 to 0.6928. Better than expected Electronic Retail Sales data underpinned the move.

AUDUSD rallied with the gain in Kiwi, but less dramatically.

USDJPY climbed to 113.67 before retreating on profit-taking ahead of Wednesday’s FOMC meeting.

A drop in the December Rightmove House Price index knocked Sterling off the day’s high.  GBPUSD tumbled from 1.3429 to 1.3343 before bouncing to 1.3385 at the New York open.  Sterling traders were also wary ahead of the  Bank of England policy meeting on Thursday

EURUSD inched higher on broad US dollar weakness with traders awaiting Thursday’s  ECB policy meeting. EURUSD support is at 1.1710 with resistance at 1.1810

WTI oil prices stayed buoyant, trading in a $56.94-$57.35 range.  The UAE energy minister said that Opec and non-Opec producers would announce an exit strategy from production cuts in June.  The news did not have an impact on prices.

USDCAD has fully recouped all its losses after the better than expected Canada GDP and employment reports which were released December 1.  Prices are consolidating gains mad on Friday when US NFP data was stronger than expected.  USDCAD direction will be determined by broad US dollar moves this week.

There isn’t any meaningful US or Canadian data on tap today. Bitcoin trading will provide the entertainment while markets sit on their hands awaiting Wednesday’s FOMC meeting.

USDCAD Technical outlook:

The USDCAD technicals are bullish while prices are above 1.2820, looking for a break above resistance at 1.2915 to extend gains to 1.3050.  Longer term, the uptrend from the end of September is in place above 1.2650 which is also the bottom of the 1.2650-1.2915 range that has contained prices since the end of October.

For today, USDCAD support is at 1.2820 and 1.2770.  Resistance is at 1.2880 and 1.2920

Today’s Range 1.2820-1.2880