A fairly slow news day today will likely be punctuated by a few market events likely to create volatility. Traders will want to pay attention to the weekly U.S. unemployment claims figures and the Canadian New Housing Price Index, as they are both likely to impact a number of currency pairs.

13:30 GMT USD Unemployment Claims

The U.S. unemployment figures are a record of the number of Americans who filed for first time unemployment insurance over the last week. The report is a leading indicator of American economic health and generally leads to market volatility.

Last week’s figure of 480K was slightly higher then expected, but not enough to drive USD down. This was especially true, given the large number of positive news events that have been boosting the Dollar lately.

This week analysts are forecasting a figure of around 460K. If the figure comes in as expected, traders can predict that the Dollar will receive a boost in afternoon trading as it would represent an improvement over last week.

13:30 GMT CAD New Housing Price Index (NHPI)

The NHPI is a leading indicator of Canadian economic health, as it measures the increase in housing prices which generally leads to more investment, as well as industry activity.

The forecasted figure of 0.4% will likely give the Canadian Dollar a slight boost in afternoon trading, especially against the USD. If the NHPI figure should come in below expectations, traders can expect the greenback to make some gains against its Canadian counterpart.

Tags: Daily Forex Tips