The FTSE was up 11 points in early trading this morning, held back by the Pound’s gains overnight against the Dollar.
It is the Dollar, however, that will be the key driver of equities today with the release of the US Jobs Report and Non-Farm Payrolls. “Today’s US data will need to show better than expected employment gains and a growth in wages in order to stop USD from weakening further.” suggested FxPro analyst, Edward Anderson.
“Following yesterday’s impressive ADP Employment, considered a precursor to the big one this afternoon, there is room for an upside surprise for the headline 188K number. Unemployment is seen unchanged at 4.1%.” commented Accendo Markets analyst, Mike van Dulken.
With plenty riding on the US data release later today, “an element of wait-and-see may also be in play in the run-up to this afternoon’s US jobs report” he added.
LCG analyst, Jasper Lawler, however played down the Non-Farm release. “We expect another low-vol reaction to US unemployment today. The Fed appears to be on a set course of gradually rising rates, in large part because unemployment is at such low levels. A non-data dependent Fed means the data doesn’t matter like it once did.”
US equity markets maintained their positive run yesterday with the Dow Jones closing above 25,000 for the first time “after ADP Employment, a widely regarded Non-Farms precursor, came in significantly above estimates, with Goldman Sachs and 3M leading the index higher. The S&P 500 closed at a record high too thanks to Financials strength, while the Tech-focused Nasdaq also climbed, albeit be a lesser amount than peers.”, Mike van Dulken noted.
