Forex News

  The U.S. Labor Department released the infamous jobs report for the month of March, where the Non-farm payrolls increased by 216,000 jobs well above expectations of 190,000 added jobs, and unemployment dropped for a fourth consecutive month to reach 8.8 percent, the lowest since March 2009. Moreover, the ISM manufacturing index eased slightly in March to 61.2 from 61.4 but came slightly above expectations, and accordingly, investors were feeling optimistic over the outlook for the U.S. economy, since the recovery seems to be picking more momentum. Accordingly the reaction in stock markets was very positive, where stocks in the United States extended their gains, as the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose above 12400 for the first time since June 2008, while the S&P 500 index rose nearly 0.80% to trade around the 1336 level. Meanwhile, European stock indexes also closed higher on Friday amid the optimism that dominated investors after the jobs report, where the DAX rose nearly 2 percent by closing, while...

  There is no room for an April fools joke today as markets anxiously await the release of the Non Farm Employment Change numbers, which will lead market sentiment going into the weekend driving Asian and European equity markets higher. It was a very good first quarter for the equity markets, where investors wonder if these gains could be sustained during the second quarter as well with all the uncertainties that prevent the broader markets from getting stable. The dollar index slightly rose today trading above the 76.0 level since markets are positioning themselves before the jobs report, which is expected to show that the US added more jobs in March than the previous month, triggering signs of stronger global economic recovery. Concerns over the sovereign debt crisis continues, yet the euro foundation is sustained by the ECB’s stance regarding an interest rate hike to counter inflation, which was backed by yesterday’s CPI Flash Estimate which rose by 2.6% from the estimated 2.4%.  Final PMI...

  The U.S. session started today with some mixed news, where the U.S. labor department released the jobless claims, which continued to show further improvement in the labor sector, as it eased  to 388K from 394K although worse than expectations of 380K, while manufacturing activities in the United States also eased as reported by the Chicago PMI to 70.6 from 71.2, yet better than expectations of 69.9. Meanwhile, Canada reported the Gross Domestic Product for the month of January, where the Canadian economy expanded in line with expectations at 0.5%, while over an annualized pace, the Canadian economy expanded by 3.3% better than forecasts of 3.1%. Accordingly the reaction in stock markets was somewhat mixed, where U.S. stock indexes fluctuated during the opening hours between gains and losses without a clear direction, bearing in mind that investors are still focused on tomorrow’s U.S. jobs report. Meanwhile, European stock markets trimmed earlier losses and swung between gains and losses as well, where investors are still...

  Despite the prevailing uncertainties, investors are stubbornly determined to maintain a certain kind of stability within the financial markets and seek riskier assets. Fundamentals and news are no longer grabbing the investors’ attention. Risk events continue to develop in Japan, Libya, the Middle East and Europe, but the focus now seem to be shifted towards the US which tomorrow will release the Non Farm Employment Change, spurring confidence among market participants on expectations the US will be hiring more workers in March. Europeappears to be in a debt storm, but the possibility of the ECB raising their interest rate built a strong foundation for the euro. Supporting these believes was a report today showing inflation in the Euro zone unexpectedly rose by the fastest pace since 2008 by 2.6%, increasing pressures on the policy makers to tighten their policy. Yet another support was given to the euro from the German unemployment report, which showed that the debt crisis, Japan’s struggle and the Libyan...