US initial claims today. US Non Farm Payroll tomorrow
The day before the always important US jobs report has the USD the strongest of the major currencies and the GBP as the weakest. Today, the initial claims will give the most recent look into the US jobs market (est 950K vs 1006K last week). The major indices are lower today after the Nasdaq and S&P closed at record levels and the Dow closed within 500 points of an all time record in trading yesterday. The Nasdaq is down the most in pre-market trading with the futures implying losses greater than yesterday’s 116 point gain. Multiple ECB officials are concerned about the reigniting of the Covid in Europe.
The ranges and changes are showing oversized losses in the GBP as pairs like the GBPUSD continue their runs to the downside. Recall the pair fell below it’s 100 hour MA yesterday (currently at 1.33532), but by the close, had rebounded just above that MA level. In the Asian session, the price fell back below the key MA barometer, and remained below for the rest of the day. The pair is now testing the 200 hour MA at 1.32552. The GBPUSD range is near it’s 22 day average (a month of trading). The EURUSD is off it’s lows but still lower. It opened the day near it’s 200 hour MA and stayed below (it is currently at 1.18607 with the price at 1.18124 now.
In other markets:
- Spot gold is down -11.61 points or -0.59% at $1931.63
- Spot silver is down -$0.48 or -1.8% at 26.95
- WTI crude oil is continuing its slide. It is down -$0.92 or -2.24% at $40.58
In the premarket for US stocks, the major indices are taking a breather after the incredible run to the upside. The futures are implying lower openings for each of the major indices:
- Dow, -46 points
- S&P, -18.75 points
- NASDAQ index, -160 points
European shares are mostly higher
- German DAX, +0.7%
- France’s CAC, +1.5%
- UK’s FTSE 100, +0.5%
- Spain’s Ibex, +1.7%
- Italy’s FTSE MIB, +0.6%
US debt market, yields are marginally higher. The shorter end is unchanged in yield:
In the European debt market, the benchmark 10 year yields are mostly lower. The exception is the UK 10 year which is currently up 1.1 basis points:
