The trading focus at the end of last week was directed to the release of the United States (US) NFP employment data report for the month of July which has had a significant impact on the movement of major currencies, especially the US dollar.
Reviewing the report, although the ADP employment data published two days earlier was encouraging, it contrasted with the dismal NFP reading.
US job growth in July was 187,000, lower than the forecast of 205,000. This figure is not much different from the previous month which was 185,000 which has been updated down from the original reading of 209,000.
Even so, average income remained at 0.4% compared to expectations to drop to 0.3%, while the unemployment rate fell to 3.6%, beating the forecast to remain at 3.6%.
As a result of the published report, the US dollar suffered a significant decline and erased almost all of the gains made during the week.
For the next indication of the Federal Reserve's (Fed) monetary policy, the market will also be watching the release of US inflation data this week.
With the decline of the US dollar it has given room again to other major currencies in the market to rise.
European currencies, the Euro and the Pound initially showed early signs of a more bullish move this week after both central banks raised their respective interest rates.
Similarly, commodity currencies such as the Australian and New Zealand dollars recovered slightly in the last trading session last week with the decline of the US dollar.
However, investors will be cautiously awaiting China's inflation data on Wednesday which could weigh on the Aussie and Kiwi, in addition to global market sentiment.
The Canadian dollar, on the other hand, suffered losses following the reaction to the Canadian jobs report published along with the US NFP on Friday.
The lackluster reading of the report failed to support the Loonie which had previously benefited from the rise in crude oil prices in the market.
Meanwhile, gold commodity trading showed a slight price recovery at the close of last week's session after the reaction to the NFP jobs report, which had previously hit a 3-week low around $1,926, rebounded by $20 to $1,946.
