Currency markets were relatively calm overnight as market participants eagerly awaited this morning’s payrolls print.
Overview
The print was mixed, causing the dollar volatility to spike but without a particular direction. The total change in employment impressed as the economy added 196K jobs in March and beating estimates of 177K. Last month’s awful print of 20K jobs created was upwardly revised to 33K. But average hourly earnings only grew 0.1%, missing estimates of 0.3% in March. On a yearly basis, hourly earnings rose 3.2%, which is strong but still missed estimates of a 3.4% increase. The jobless rate was unchanged at 3.8%.
Despite rhetoric from both sides, there has still not been a breakthrough on American-Chinese trade relations. There is no further economic data set for release today so markets may slip into quiet ranges after the NFP data is digested.
What to Watch Today…
- No major events scheduled for today.
Complete Economic Calendar can be found here.
GBP
GBP/USD did experience some overnight volatility and the sterling is weaker to start the day. Prime Minister Theresa May is expected to as the European Union for an extension until June 30th to allow time to reach an agreement via cross party talks. However, the European Union may not agree as it prefers a long delay. European Council President Donald Tusk is expected to a flexible 12-month delay. Negotiations will continue and so will sterling volatility.
CAD
The Canadian dollar is under heavy selling pressure to start the day after jobs data disappointed. Indeed, Canada posted its first job loss in seven months in March. Total employment fell by 7,200 jobs in March. Of those losses, 6,400 were full time jobs which add insult to injury. The jobless rate held at 5.8%. While this morning’s print is decidedly terrible, job growth in Canada had been impressive over the past six months so the knee-jerk “loonie” weakness may be short-lived.
