Forex Today: Markets turn choppy ahead of US housing data

Here is what you need to know on Friday, November 17:

Financial markets stay relatively quiet for the third straight day on Friday in the absence of fundamental drivers. Eurostat will release revisions to October Harmonized Index of Consumer Prices (HICP) data and the US economic docket will feature Housing Starts and Building Permits. 

Uninspiring data releases from the US on Thursday made it difficult for the US Dollar (USD) to build on Wednesday's recovery gains. The US Department of Labor reported that the number of Initial Jobless Claims increased by 13,000 to 231,000 in the week ending November 11 and the Federal Reserve's monthly publication revealed that Industrial Production contracted by 0.6% in October following September's 0.1% growth. In the meantime, Wall Street's main indexes closed the day virtually unchanged, while the benchmark 10-year US Treasury bond yield turned south and dropped toward 4.4%.

EUR/USD closed the day flat on Thursday and went into a consolidation phase at around 1.0850 on Friday.

GBP/USD fluctuated in a very tight range near 1.2400 on Thursday. Early Friday, the pair started to edge lower and was last seen losing 0.23% on the day at 1.2385.

USD/JPY turned south on Thursday and closed below 151.00. The pair continued to push lower during the Asian trading hours and came within a touching distance of 150.00. Earlier in the day, Bank of Japan (BoJ) Governor Kazuo Ueda said that the central bank does not have any specific plan yet on how it will sell ETFs and that a weaker Japanese Yen (JPY) pushes up domestic inflation via a rise in import costs. "I cannot say decisively that a weak JPY is negative for Japan's economy," Ueda added.

Gold benefited from retreating US Treasury bond yields on Thursday and climbed above $1,980. XAU/USD preserves its bullish momentum early Friday and advances toward $1,990.