USD

The GBP/USD pair is lower by 0.37% at $1.5938. The AUD/USD is weaker by 0.41% at $1.0505. The USD/CHF has slumped 0.06% to 0.9320 Swiss francs. All this shows that the USD is very bullish today. The demand for the greenback is higher in spite of the release of much positive data from the U.S. economy and the stock market rally yesterday. A reason for the surge in the USD may be that traders are waiting on the sidelines until the U.S. market opens shortly.

EUR

The European single currency is mixed today. The EUR/USD pair is lower by 0.17% at $1.3354. The EUR/GBP cross is stronger at the moment by 14 pence at 83.78 pence. Traders have not lost hope in the euro. One of the biggest events will be the speech of British PM David Cameron about the nation’s future role in the European Union. Traders should make sure they follow his speech if they intend on trading the leading currency pairs today. A big mover is expected to be the EUR/GBP cross.

JPY

The yen is trading stronger today versus its peers after the Japanese currency slumped in previous trading days. The most important gains have been versus the greenback, as the pair rose to its highest level in more than 2 years. It is hard to say if the JPY will continue advancing in the coming hours. As a result, you will need to trade cautiously during Friday’s session to have a chance of making decent returns.

Asian stocks are much stronger today after the release of positive data from the U.S. and Chinese economies. This enabled Asian shares to reverse a 2-day decline. This following the rally which we saw on Wall Street during yesterday’s trading session.

The MSCI Asia Pacific index advanced 1.2% to 132.72. China’s Shanghai Composite Index soared 1.4%. Kong Kong’s Heng Seng Index gained 1.1%. Japan’s Nikkei 225 Stock Average made gains of 2.9%. South Korea’s Kospi Index jumped 0.7%. Taiwans’s Taiex Index surged 1.5%. Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 surged 0.3%.

Toyota jumped 2.1% to 4,300 yen. Honda Motor Company advanced 3.2%. Sony surged 12%. Rio Tinto gained 2.7% to A$66.35. Other top stocks also climbed earlier in the morning.

Crude Oil

Crude oil has made important gains during the current trading week. It rose yesterday by more than a dollar. However, the black gold is trading lower this morning, as traders have decided to take out profit. Crude is weaker currently by 6 cents at the $95.89 level.

Investors feel that crude may be slightly overvalued, which has led them to ditch the commodity today. It is true that there are a number of factors backing gold futures as of now.

There was the publication of positive economic figures from the leading economies in the past 2 trading days, which helped crude oil rally.

Traders should note that crude has ended the session higher several times already this week, even while starting it much lower. Therefore, investors should trade wisely today if they do want to make the desired returns in the coming hours.

USD/JPY

There has been a lot of bullishness for the USD/JPY currency pair lately. This is on the prediction that the Bank of Japan will go ahead with further stimulus measures to boost their economy. The USD/JPY forex pair is weaker this morning by several pips at the rate of 89.79 yen. This is largely due to the yen being oversold in previous trading sessions.