Wall Street shrugs off payrolls miss
Wall Street closed higher for the first time in five days on Friday despite a heavy headline miss on the US payrolls number. Other parts of the report, unemployment rate and wages growth, were stronger. China reports “some progress” in the trade talks with the US.
US30USD Daily Chart
The US30 index touched the lowest in almost a month on Friday after the payrolls data, but rebounded to finish higher, snapping a four-day losing streak
The 200-day moving average at 25,131 remains untouched, supporting prices since February 12
US economy added just 20,000 jobs in February, the least since September 2017 and much less than the 180,000 expected. The unemployment rate fell to 3.8% and avg hourly earnings rose 3.4% y/y, the most in a decade. Seasonality, the weather and the US government shutdown have been blamed for the poor report, introducing a bit a scepticism about the headline number.
DE30EUR Daily Chart
The Germany30 index slid for a third consecutive day on Friday, taking its cue from Wall Street and the hangover from the ECB’s moves the previous day. Rumours were also circulating that some ECB officials were even more pessimistic about the outlook and considered the latest staff projections to be too optimistic
Trendline support has risen to around 11,300 today, with other support coming in at 11,260 as the 100-day moving average lurks below at 11,197
Germany’s industrial production data for January are due today, seen rising 0.4% m/m after December’s 0.4% contraction. Data reported Friday showed factory orders fell 2.6% m/m in the same month.
CN50USD Daily Chart
The China50 index fell for a third straight day on Friday following dismal trade numbers for February. It fell to an 11-day low.
The index has fallen 7% from Wednesday’s peak and is approaching the 38.2% Fibonacci retracement of this year’s rally at 12,111
Both exports and imports declined sharply in February, partly due to the timing of the Lunar New Year holiday this year, but also amid weakening demand. Exports fell 20.7% y/y, the most in three years, while imports declined 5.2% y/y, lower than the -1.4% economists had predicted.
