Foreign Exchange Market Update

January 29, 2026

United States (U.S.)

After reporting a notable decrease in new orders for U.S. manufactured goods in the previous month, the Commerce Department released a report on Thursday showing factory orders rebounded in November. The Commerce Department said factory orders surged by 2.7% in November after tumbling by 1.2% in October. The larger rebound in factory orders came as durable goods orders surged by 5.3% in November after declining by 2.1% in October.

Orders for transportation equipment led the way higher, spiking by 14.7% in November after plummeting by 6.3% in October. Meanwhile, the Commerce Department said orders for non-durable goods were virtually unchanged in November after dipping by 0.3% in October. The report also said shipments of manufactured goods edged down by 0.1% in November after inching up by 0.1% in October.

Inventories of manufactured goods crept up by 0.1% in November after coming in virtually unchanged in the previous month. With inventories and shipments both showing little change, the inventories-to-shipments ratio for November was unchanged from October at 1.56. 01/29/2026 - 10:24:00 (RTTNews)

The Commerce Department released a report on Thursday showing another modest increase in U.S. wholesale inventories in November. The report said wholesale inventories rose by 0.2% in November, matching the increase seen in October.

Inventories of durable goods crept up by 0.2% in November after edging down by 0.1% in October, while inventories of non-durable goods ticked up by 0.2% in November after climbing by 0.7% in October. Meanwhile, the Commerce Department said wholesale sales jumped by 1.3% in November after falling by 0.4% in November.

Sales of durable goods shot up by 1.2% in November after sliding by 0.7% in October, while sales of non-durable goods surged by 1.5% in November after dipping by 0.1% in October. With sales increasing by much more than inventories, the inventory/sales ratio for merchant wholesalers slipped to 1.28 in November from 1.30 in October. 01/29/2026 - 10:37:00 (RTTNews)

First-time claims for U.S. unemployment benefits slipped in the week ending on January 24, the Labor Department revealed in a report released on Thursday. The report said initial jobless claims edged down to 209,000, a decrease of 1,000 from the previous week's revised level of 210,000.

Meanwhile, the Labor Department said the less volatile four-week moving average crept up to 206,250, an increase of 2,250 from the previous week's revised average of 204,000. The report said continuing claims, reading on the number of people receiving ongoing unemployment assistance, fell by 38,000 to 1.827 million in the week ending on January 17. With the decrease, continuing claims dropped to their lowest level since hitting 1.825 million in the week ending on September 21, 2024.

The four-week moving average of continuing claims also dipped to 1,867,500, a decrease of 7,250 from the previous week's revised average of 1,874,750. Next Friday, the Labor Department is scheduled to release its more closely watched report on employment in January. 01/29/2026 - 09:38:00 (RTTNews)

A report released by the Commerce Department on Thursday showed the U.S. trade deficit surged in November. The Commerce Department said the trade deficit widened to $56.8 billion in November from a revised $29.2 billion in October. The wider trade deficit came amid a sharp increase in the value of imports and a steep drop in the value of exports.

The report said the value of imports spiked by 5.0% to $348.9 billion in November after tumbling by 3.0% to $332.1 billion in October. Significant growth in imports of consumer goods and capital goods more than offset a decrease in imports of industrial supplies and materials.

Meanwhile, the Commerce Department said the value of exports plunged by 3.6% to $292.1 billion in November after surging by 3.0% to $302.9 billion in October. Exports of industrial supplies and materials, including non-monetary gold, slumped during the month, along with exports of pharmaceuticals.

The report also said the goods deficit widened to $86.9 billion in November from $59.0 billion in October, while the services surplus crept up to $30.1 billion in November from $29.8 billion in October. 01/29/2026 - 10:06:00 (RTTNews)

Eurozone Economic Sentiment Strongest In 3 Years

Euro traded at 1.1944 against USD at 9:00 AM PST

Eurozone economic confidence improved to the highest level in three years in January. The economic confidence index advanced to 99.4 in January from 97.2 in the previous month. This was the highest score since January.

The marked upturn was driven by higher confidence in almost all sectors. The industrial confidence index rose to -6.8, the highest since May 2023, from -8.5 in December. At 7.2, the services confidence index hit its strongest since January 2024 and rose from 5.8 in December.

The consumer confidence index improved to -12.4 from -13.2 in the prior month. Retailers' confidence also strengthened in January, with the index rising to -5.7 from -6.6 in December.

Meanwhile, construction confidence remained unchanged in January. The corresponding index came in at -0.9. Economic confidence improved noticeably in all six largest EU economies, namely France, Germany, Spain, Italy, Poland, and the Netherlands. The employment expectations indicator also improved in January to 98.2, reaching the highest levels in twelve months. 01/29/2026 - 08:16:00 (RTTNews)

Japan Consumer Confidence Rises to 21-month High

Japan's consumer sentiment improved in January to the highest level in nearly two years. The seasonally adjusted consumer confidence index rose to 37.9 in January from 37.2 in December. Further, this was the highest reading since April 2024, when it was 38.2.

The index for overall livelihood climbed by 0.9 points to 36.8, and the sub-index for willingness to buy durable goods increased to 30.4 from 30. 2. The index reflecting employment also rose by 0.9 points to 42.4, and the income growth index advanced to 42.0 from 41.3. 01/29/2026 - 01:22:00 (RTTNews)

Singapore Keeps Monetary Policy Unchanged

Singapore’s central bank maintained its monetary policy setting and raised its inflation outlook on Thursday. The Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) said it will maintain the prevailing rate of appreciation of the Singapore Dollar Nominal Effective Exchange Rate policy band, and there will be no change to its width and the level at which it is centered.

The central bank had eased its policy twice last year. Instead of using interest rates, the MAS applies the exchange rate against a basket of currencies within an undisclosed bank as its monetary policy tool.

For 2025, MAS core inflation was 0.7%, which was considerably lower than 2.8% in 2024. The forecasts for MAS core inflation and overall inflation for 2026 were raised to 1.0-2.0% from 0.5-1.5% estimated in October. On average, core inflation momentum was expected to come in at a pace that was slightly below trend this year.

In the near term, GDP growth should remain resilient, but uncertainties to the outlook remain, the bank noted. For the full year, GDP growth is expected to ease relative to the stronger outturn in 2025, with the positive output gap projected to narrow over the course of the year.

The central bank observed that risks to the growth and inflation outlook are tilted to the upside. 01/29/2026 - 00:18:00 (RTTNews)