Wall Street finished mixed with the NASDAQ falling by 0.02%, the S&P 500 rising by 0.07%, and the Dow Jones adding 0.12% to its value. Facebook shares fell by 2.37% closing at $66.45 as the social media giant was investigated by the UK Information Commissioner’s Office, raising fresh privacy concerns.
The US Dollar traded higher against most major currencies on a stronger than forecast private jobs report with 281k vs. 207k, boosting optimism that the Non-Farm Payroll data due out tomorrow may show the US economy is gaining traction. Today, a lot of economic data is expected. The Non-Farm Employment Change at 214K vs. 217k, the Trade Balance with -45.1B vs. -47.2, the Unemployment Claims at 314K vs. 312K, the ISM Non-Manufacturing PMI with 56.2 vs. 56.3 previously and the Unemployment Rate expected unchanged
Gold rose by 0.12%, closing at $1327 an ounce. Crude Oil fell by 1.03% closing at $104.25 a barrel as investors avoided the commodity ahead of Thursday’s weekly US supply report and exports from Libya and relative quiet in Iraq keeping sentiment subdued.
The euro fell versus the US Dollar after soft economic data in Spain and a lower PPI than expected. The GBP/USD is approaching the key support level at 1.3565 and is expected to rise to 1.3700 areas. However, breaking the support of 1.3655 may take the pair back to 1.3620. Today, the Minimum Bid Rate is expected unchanged at 0.15% and Retail Sales at 0.3% vs. 0.4% previously.
The British Pound rose versus the US Dollar on a strong Construction PMI report, which came out at 62.6 vs. 59.7 forecast and the Nationwide HPI on 1.0% vs. 0.6%. The pair is trading around 1.7160, the highest since October 2008. With the RSI indicator above 70, the pair is in an over-bought area and expected to fall back to 1.7000. Today, the Services PMI is expected at 58.1 vs. 58.6 previously.