Markets to focus on US Non-farm Payrolls

Thursday’s trading was relatively uneventful with a few data releases announced but with little affect on exchange rates. After a torrid start to the New Year, the Euro was in focus during the morning session when latest Retails Sales figures for the Euro-zone were released and figures met expectations with 0.6% growth on the month but fell just shy on the yearly figure of 1.5%. The Euro came under more selling pressure throughout the morning with GBP/EUR recovering Wednesday’s losses and currently sit just 1 cent off the best buying levels since 2008.

At lunch time the Bank of England confirmed a hold on all monetary policies as expected with no statement or further insight into future plans. Subsequently the pound was unaffected on the markets and the focus now moves to today’s announcement at 9:30am which will see the latest Industrial & Manufacturing Production figures at the same time as Trade Balance data.

This afternoon however is all about the Canadian & US Dollar as each country announces their latest unemployment figures. Canada’s unemployment rate is expected to see no change whereas the US forecast a further drop in the headline rate to 5.7%, but with Nonfarm Payrolls growth expected to be around 80k less than last month. This release always causes significant volatility in exchange rates and will likely affect GBP/USD, EUR/USD and GBP/EUR through the afternoon. The Dollar has been on a strong run recently as markets still expect interest rate hikes in the US around Easter, making the dollar the most favourable major currency for investment in the coming months. The week is then rounded off with a GDP estimate for the UK from NIESR at 2pm.

Contact your broker today to find out more about these releases and the potential implications to your up and coming transfer.