USD/SGD – Sing Rallies, Singapore CPI Next

USD/SGD has posted gains on Friday, as the pair trades at 1.4270 in the European session. In economic news, today’s highlight is Existing Home Sales, with the markets expecting a surge in the December report. Singapore will release CPI, the primary gauge of consumer inflation, on Sunday. The markets will be looking for some improvement after a disappointing reading of -0.8% in November.

The Singapore dollar has shown some improvement this week, gaining over 100 points. Still, the Singapore dollar has lost ground in January, as minor currencies like the Sing have been hit hard in early 2016 by the slowdown in China and the collapse of oil. This has resulted in nervous investors fleeing from risk and snapping up safe-haven currencies such as the yen and US dollar.

US inflation indicators remain weak, as inflation remains a soft spot in a generally solid US economy. This was underscored on Wednesday, as key inflation numbers missed their estimates. CPI dropped 0.1%, short of the estimate of 0.0%. Core CPI also softened, posting a gain of 0.1%. This was short of the forecast of 0.2%. Meanwhile, US jobless claims jumped to their highest level in 11 months, as the reading of 293 thousand was much worse than the estimate of 279 thousand. Will these weak numbers dampen Fed enthusiasm for a rate hike? There is speculation that the Fed could make a move in March, contingent on the US economy continuing to show strong numbers. At the same time, minutes from the Federal Reserve Policy meeting in December indicated that some policymakers are concerned that the inflation picture may not improve anytime soon, and it would be premature to raise rates again before inflation levels improve. If inflation indicators don’t point higher, we may not see a rate hike before mid-2016.

USD/SGD Fundamentals

Friday (Jan. 22)

  • 10:00 US Existing Home Sales. Estimate 5.21M
  • 10:00 US CB Leading Index. Estimate -0.1%

Upcoming Key Events

Sunday (Jan. 24)

  • 00:00 Singapore Consumer Price Index

*Key events are in bold

*All release times are EST

USD/SGD for Friday, January 22, 2016

USD/SGD January 22 at 6:50 EST

Open: 143.29 Low: 1.4359  High: 144.12 Close: 142.68

USD/SGD Technical

S3 S2 S1 R1 R2 R3
1.4016 1.4139 1.4248 1.4368 1.4459 1.4530
  • USD/SGD was choppy in the Asian session. The pair has posted losses in European trade.
  • 1.4368 is a strong resistance line
  • 1.4248 is a weak support line and could break during the day
  • Current range: 1.4248 to 1.4368

Further levels in both directions:

  • Below: 1.4248, 1.4139 and 1.4016
  • Above: 1.4368, 1.4459, 1.4530, and 1.4682

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.

Kenny Fisher

Kenny Fisher

Market Analyst at OANDA
A highly experienced financial market analyst with a focus on fundamental analysis, Kenneth Fisher’s daily commentary covers a broad range of markets including forex, equities and commodities. His work has been published in several major online financial publications including Investing.com, Seeking Alpha and FXStreet. Based in Israel, Kenny has been a MarketPulse contributor since 2012.