The shekel has strengthened against the major currencies this morning. The shekel-dollar exchange rate is currently down 0.69% in comparison with yesterday's representative rate, at NIS 3.9465/$, and the shekel-euro rate is down 0.31%, at NIS 4.2653/€.
The market awaits the US monthly employment figures for March, due to be released tomorrow. According to the forecasts, the US economy added 247 thousand jobs last month, representing a slowdown in comparison with February, when 295 thousand jobs were added. The unemployment rate is expected to be unchanged, at 5.5%.
FXCM Israel says in its market review this morning, "The shekel-dollar pair retreated to below NIS 3.96/$ after failing to break through NIS 3.98/$ yesterday. Again, the pair is oscillating within the NIS 3.9-4/$ range. Any movement within this range is technically insignificant as far as the longer term trend is concerned. Only a breakthrough above NIS 4/$ or a move downwards below NIS 3.9/$ might signal a significant shift in one direction or the other.
"On world markets, the dollar opened the second quarter weakly, because of the fear on the markets that the strong dollar is weakening the US economy. In the shadow of tepid macro figures, the market is reducing its gamble on an interest rate hike by the Federal Reserve, the assessment being that a first hike will come in the fourth quarter at the earliest. If Friday's employment report proves to be a pleasant surprise, this is likely to send the dollar upwards again."
Published by Globes [online], Israel business news - www.globes-online.com - on April 2, 2015
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