Event to pay attention to today:
15:30 EET. USD – Non-Farm Employment Change
EURUSD:
On Thursday, the EUR/USD exchange rate demonstrated resilience, holding steady near the 1.0400 mark despite testing the lower boundary of the chart. The release of EU retail sales data, which matched market expectations, did not significantly impact investor sentiment. In contrast, US Dollar traders maintained a firm stance ahead of Friday’s release of the US Non-Farm Payrolls (NFP) data.
European retail sales growth in December came in at 1.9% year-on-year, matching the market’s average forecasts and slightly above the revised previous figure of 1.6%.Despite the year-on-year increase, retail sales actually contracted for the month, coming in at -0.2%, down from 0.0% in the previous month, which was also revised lower.
Economic data from the US on Thursday was mostly mid-range, with weekly initial jobless claims rising to 219k for the week ending 31 January. Analysts had expected a figure of 213k, while the previous week’s figure was slightly revised to 208k.New non-farm payrolls (NFP) data is scheduled for release on Friday. Projections indicate a decline in net job gains to 170K from December’s 256K, with market participants closely monitoring revisions to older data.Historically, revisions to data after publication have shown higher results in 2024, leading to disappointment among market participants who had anticipated signs of weakness in the US labour market, potentially prompting the Federal Reserve (Fed) to further reduce interest rates.
Trading recommendation: Trading predominantly Sell orders from the current price level.
Origin: FreshForex
