The results are in: the US Bureau of Labor Statistics reported last Friday that Nonfarm Payrolls rose by 199,000 in November, beating expectations of 180,000. Unemployment rate fell to 3.7% compared to 3.9% in October. Good news although nothing earth-shattering, as reflected in the reaction in US indices. Nasdaq rose 0.45% on the day, S&P 500 closed 0.41% in the black and the Dow Jones managed a 0.36% gain on Friday.
The DXY was content to rise a modest 0.34% on the news, pushing the other currencies in the basket lower. The Yen in particular lost 0.61% on the day, allowing USDJPY to reclaim 145. Remarks from various Bank of Japan members last week led some to believe that interest rate increases are on the horizon. Euro and Cable continued to languish in no man’s land last week. It’s a battle between central banks to see who blinks first.
Gold took another hit on Friday, losing 1.19% to close at $2004 an ounce, a far sight from the highs of last Monday. As of early trading in the Asian session, gold has now lost the $2000 level. Oil finally caught a break late last week, Brent Crude climbing 2% to $76 a barrel after a solid week of losses. WTI back up to $71.
We have a relatively dense news week again starting on Tuesday with a slew of inflation data out of the US. Thursday is the big one, however, with the final Fed interest rate decision of the year. It is widely expected that big man Jerome will keep rates unchanged but traders will want to keep an eye on it just in case.