The release of strong economic data from the U.S. economy led to a stock market rally in the U.S. and the rest of the world. This led to strong implications for the Dollar. The Dollar rose against the Yen, whilst dropping against the British Pound. However, there was very little movement against the EUR. The main factors affecting Dollar volatility yesterday were the release of optimistic manufacturing, personal income, and construction figures from the U.S. This led traders to the conclusion that the worst of the economic downturn in the U.S. is over.

The results of the data releases led the Dollar to tumble to an 8-month low against the Pound. The pair closed higher by nearly 230 pips at 1.6445. The greenback rose by nearly 140 pips vs. the Yen to 96.37, as investors dropped the JPY for higher-yielding assets. The Dollar’s behavior against the EUR was more stable as the pair remained virtually unchanged, up barely 10 pips at 1.4154. This was mainly due to traders putting their money into riskier investments on both sides of the Atlantic, leading to low volatility in the EUR/USD currency cross.

Looking ahead to today, there are 2 important news events coming out of the U.S. These are the Pending Home Sales data set to be released at 14:00 GMT, and the Total Vehicle Sales figures that will be released throughout the afternoon. Forex traders are advised to take up their positions in the Dollar and its major crosses early in the day as markets are likely to go volatile as Europe also publishes unemployment data later in the day. Additionally, investors are likely to weigh-in on the real value of the U.S. Dollar as the forex market still reacts to Monday’s U.S. data.