The U.S. Dollar was seen giving up some of the gains on Thursday. Price action retreated after a strong rally during the previous days. Economic data on the day was mostly limited. Australia’s trade balance figures were released. Data showed that the trade surplus rose to 1.60 billion. This beat estimates of a 1.43 billion increase.
Data from the Eurozone was relatively quiet. The NY trading session saw the release of Canada’s Ivey PMI. The index fell to 54.0 missing estimates of an increase to 62.3. However, with a reading above 50, the report indicated expansion. In the U.S. the factory orders showed a 2.3% increase on a month over month basis, beating estimates of a 2.2% increase.
Looking ahead, the economic calendar today will see the German factory orders and PPI reports. Switzerland will be releasing the inflation report for the month. Economists polled expect consumer prices to rise 0.2% on the month.
The NY trading session is expected to be busy with the release of both Canada and the U.S. jobs report. Canada is expected to post an employment change of 25k with the unemployment rate expected to fall from 6.0% to 5.9%.
In the U.S., the official payrolls data is forecast to show 185k jobs being added while the unemployment rate is expected to fall to 3.8%. Wages are forecast to rise 0.3% on the month.
