Equities are once again down this morning after a hard sell-off last week, in stark contrast to the recent run higher. The NFP report had little impact on stocks but affected the USD, sending GBPUSD lower from 1.42157 to test the 1.41000 support area. Fed Chair Janet Yellen was out with comments over the weekend as she departs her role on the FOMC. She said that US stocks and commercial real estate prices were high. Price-earnings ratios are near the high end of their historical ranges. Commercial real estate prices are now quite high relative to rents. It is a source of some concern that asset valuations are so high. In other news, Major Credit Card Lenders are prohibiting the use of Credit Cards for use in funding Cryptocurrency transactions. UK PMI Construction (Jan) was 50.2 v an expected 52.0, from 52.2 previously. GBPUSD gapped down from 1.42257 to 1.42194 at the time of this release and then sold off to 1.42018. Eurozone Producer Price Index (YoY) (Dec) was 2.2% v an expected 2.3%, from a previous reading of 2.8%. EURUSD sold off from 1.24863 to 1.24752 by this data point. US Non-Farm Payrolls (Jan) was 200K, higher than the expected 180K, from a prior 148K, which was revised up to 160K. This measures the change in the number of employed people in January. The Unemployment Rate (Jan) was as expected, unchanged at 4.1%. This measures the percentage of the total workforce unemployed and actively seeking employment during January. Average Hourly Earnings (YoY) (Jan) was 2.9% v an expected 2.6%, from 2.5% previously. Average Weekly Hours (Jan) was 34.3 v an expected 34.5, from a previous 34.5. Labor Force Participation Rate (Jan) was 62.7% v an expected 62.8%, from a prior reading of 62.7%. EURUSD sold off from 1.24921 to 1.24090 following these data releases. Gold moved lower from 1345.70 to 1327.00. US Factory Orders (MoM) (Dec) was 1.7% v an expected 1.5%, from 1.3% previously, which was revised up to 1.7%. USDJPY sold from 110.418 to 110.315 before recovering to 110.476. Baker Hughes US Oil Rig Counts was released, with a headline number coming in at 765 against last week’s number of 759. The expected number this week was 758. WTI Oil can become volatile around this data release and will be in traders’ minds when trading resumes on Monday. FOMC Member Williams spoke about the US economic outlook at the Financial Women of San Francisco luncheon. His main remark was that the Fed needed to continue on its path of raising rates. He said in his comments that he is optimistic about the economy, which is performing better than expected but is not shifting gears. He still believes the Phillips curve holds true. He said he expects growth this year to pick up by 2% and for inflation to pick up this year and next. EURUSD is unchanged overnight, trading around 1.24530. USDJPY is down -0.12% in early session trading at around 110.019. GBPUSD is down -0.09% to …
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