Event to pay attention to today:
15:30 EET. USD – Unemployment Rate
GBPUSD:
The GBP/USD pair hit a fresh 14-month low on Thursday as the pound continues to decline against the dollar. Markets, weakened by the holidays, are holding on to the US Dollar as investors await new US Non-Farm Payrolls (NFP) data on Friday.
UK Chief Finance Minister Darren Jones spoke on Thursday, noting that UK financial markets continue to function in ‘normal mode’. British financial markets reacted with a rapid sell-off in sterling and increased expectations of further rate cuts by the Bank of England (BoE) over the course of the year.
US markets were closed on Thursday for a day of mourning for the death of former President Jimmy Carter, who passed away in December at the age of 100. Maretk participants got a respite from this week’s busy US data release schedule, but there is another round of Friday’s NFP employment data ahead, which will further limit already tight market volumes. US job growth is expected to fall slightly in December, while wage growth is expected to remain flat or even decline on a month-on-month basis. Lower wage and job growth could wreak further havoc on the broad market’s hopes for a rate cut in 2025, as strong wages keep inflation expectations high and still-strong employment data means the Federal Reserve (Fed) will have little reason to change rates.
Trading recommendation: Trade recommendation: Watch the level of 1.2275, when fixing below consider Sell positions, when rebounding consider Buy positions.
Origin: FreshForex
