USD/SGD – Singapore Dollar Gains as Unemployment Steady

USD/SGD has lost ground on Monday, as the pair trades at 1.3540 in the North American session. In economic news, it’s a quiet start to the new trading week. Singapore’s unemployment rate was unchanged at 1.9%. There are no US releases on the schedule. On Tuesday, the US releases Retail Sales and Core Retail Sales, both of which are key consumer spending reports.

The Singapore dollar has gained ground on Monday, following a strong Singapore employment report. The unemployment rate came in at 1.9% in the first quarter, unchanged from the fourth quarter of 2015. Singapore’s economy is closely linked to growth trends in China and the Chinese slowdown has had a negative impact on the island-city’s growth. Last week, Chinese CPI was unexpectedly weak in the year-to-year release for May, posting a gain of 2.0%. This was shy of the estimate of 2.3%. Chinese demand appears to have picked up in the second quarter, so the markets are hopeful that this weak inflation number is reflective of the drop in Chinese demand in the first quarter, which had significant negative repercussions for the global economy, and that inflation levels will pick up in the second quarter.

The US Nonfarm Payrolls report was dismal in April, posting a weak gain of just 38 thousand. This sent the US dollar tumbling and raised concerns about the strength of the US labor market. However, these concerns should be laid to rest after key job numbers last week were solid and beat expectations. On Wednesday, JOLTS Job Openings improved to 5.79 million, easily beating the forecast of 5.67 million. Unemployment Claims followed suit with a strong reading. The indicator dropped to 264 thousand, compared to an estimate of 269 thousand. Significantly, this marked the lowest jobless report in six weeks. With the Federal Reserve mulling over a rate hike in the next few months, employment numbers will be especially significant, and any unexpected reading could result in volatility in the currency markets. The Federal Reserve hold its policy meeting on Wednesday, with the markets expecting the Fed to hold rates at their current level of 0.25%.

USD/SGD Fundamentals

Sunday (June 12)

• 21:00 Singapore Unemployment Rate. Actual 1.9%

Monday (June 13)

There are no economic events in Singapore or the US

Upcoming Key Events

Tuesday (June 14)

• 8:30 US Core Retail Sales. Estimate 0.4%
• 8:30 US Retail Sales. Estimate 0.4%

*All release times are EDT

USD/SGD for Monday, June 13, 2016

USD/SGD June 13 at 11:30 EDT

Open: 1.3608 Low: 1.3527 High: 1.3623 Close: 1.3542

USD/SGD Technical

• USD/SGD posted losses in the Asian session. The pair has been choppy in the European and North American sessions
• 1.3553 has switched to a resistance role following losses by USD/SGD in the Monday session. It is a weak line
• There is support at 1.3443
• Current range: 1.3443 to 1.3553

Further levels in both directions:

• Below: 1.3443, 1.3279 and 1.3199
• Above: 1.3553, 1.3695 and 1.3828

This article is for general information purposes only. It is not investment advice or a solution to buy or sell securities. Opinions are the authors; not necessarily that of OANDA Corporation or any of its affiliates, subsidiaries, officers or directors. Leveraged trading is high risk and not suitable for all. You could lose all of your deposited funds.