Hello traders, welcome to Friday morning. Today, the market’s attention is fully focused on the US non-farm payrolls, with key data also including average hourly earnings and the unemployment rate. Non-farm payrolls are expected to come in at 147,000, with the unemployment rate anticipated at 4.2%. This data will likely set the tone for the market's direction heading into the weekend.
Looking back at Thursday, we saw inflation from Switzerland come in much lower than expected at -0.3%, causing a notable drop in the Swiss Franc. Additionally, services PMIs from the US surprised to the upside, helping to boost the American dollar, which has been the strongest currency this week. The British Pound, however, suffered after comments from Bank of England Governor Bailey, who hinted at the possibility of larger-than-expected rate cuts in the future. This led to a sharp decline for the Pound, although it is attempting to recover slightly this morning.
In commodities, oil remains the major talking point, continuing its climb driven by tensions in the Middle East, with prices up around 8% this week. European indices struggled on Thursday, with the CAC 40 notably down 4% for the week, while US indices are holding up slightly better, though they too face pressure. All eyes are on today's data to determine the next market moves.