The dollar remained lower against most major currencies on Thursday, as markets were still digesting the Federal Reserve’s statement released on Wednesday and investors turned to U.S. employment data due on Friday.
The Fed refrained from giving any indications on the timing of its next move, it said job gains remained solid, inflation had increased and economic confidence was rising.
On Thursday, the U.S. Department of Labor said initial jobless claims decreased by 14,000 in the week ending January 28 to 246,000 from the previous week’s revised total of 260,000 when analysts had expected jobless claims to drop by 9,000 to 250,000 last week.
Bank of England raised its forecasts for growth and inflation, but indicated that it is comfortable with record low interest rates.
In addition, the BoE’s monetary policy committee voted 9-0 to keep rates on hold at 0.25% on Thursday, in line with forecasts.
Today, the UK is to release data on manufacturing activity.
The U.S. will be closing the week with factory orders and the non-farm payrolls report for January, while the ISM is to release its services PMI.
The nonfarm payrolls report on Friday is expected to show employers added 175,000 jobs last month, according to the median of 102 economists polled by Reuters.
EUR/USD was up 0.36% at 1.0809, just below an eight-week high of 1.0819 hit overnight.
The pair was supported by recent comments made by the president of the U.S. that favour a weaker dollar, as well as comments by the Fed which presented a bright view of the U.S. economy while holding its monetary policy unchanged without giving any signals regarding its next move.
Better than anticipated jobless claims data on Thursday failed to give a boost to the dollar while for today, the focus is shifted towards the Non-Farm Payrolls report for further indications on the strength of the U.S labour market. Forecasts by Reuters show that employers added 175,000 jobs last month.
Pivot:1.0785Support:1.0741.0711.068Resistance:1.07851.08051.0825Scenario 1:short positions below 1.0785 with targets at 1.0740 & 1.0710 in extension.Scenario 2:above 1.0785 look for further upside with 1.0805 & 1.0825 as targets.Comment:a break below 1.0740 would trigger a drop towards 1.0710.
Gold
Gold prices rose in the U.S. on Thursday still supported by the Feds easing stance and with investors keeping an eye on political risk as the Trump administration looks to impose new sanctions on multiple Iranian entities, seeking to ratchet up pressure on Tehran while crafting a broader strategy to counter what he sees as its destabilizing behavior.
Today, the U.S. jobs report is expected to set the tone, while comments from the Fed that job gains remain solid and the unemployment rate is near its recent low create a positive sentiment prior to the announcement.
Pivot:1219Support:1206.512031198Resistance:121912251230Scenario 1:short positions below 1219.00 with targets at 1206.50 & 1203.00 in extension.Scenario 2:above 1219.00 look for further upside with 1225.00 & 1230.00 as targets.Comment:the RSI advocates for further decline.
WTI Oil
Crude prices settled lower on Thursday as investors waited for end of the week rig count data and took profits, as adequate compliance is seen with coordinated cuts to global oil production of almost 1.8 million barrels per day for the first six months of the year by OPEC and non-OPEC nations.
Ahead on Friday, oilfield services firm Baker Hughes will report data on U.S. drilling activity at the end of last week that will be closely watched.
Last week, Baker Hughes said the number of rigs drilling for oil in the U.S. increased by 15 last week, the 12th gain in 13 weeks. That brought the total count to 566, the most since November 2015.
Pivot:53.5Support:53.553.3553.17Resistance:54.154.3454.5Scenario 1:long positions above 53.50 with targets at 54.10 & 54.34 in extension.Scenario 2:below 53.50 look for further downside with 53.35 & 53.17 as targets.Comment:the RSI is supported by a bullish trend line.
US 500
The main U.S. indices were lower on Thursday, as losses in the Telecoms, Industrials and Financials sectors led shares lower.
At the close in NYSE, the Dow Jones Industrial Average lost 0.06%, while the S&P 500 index fell 0.04%, and the NASDAQ Composite index declined 0.16%.
One of the best performers of the session was Cisco Systems Inc (NASDAQ:CSCO) which added 2.31% while at the other end, one of the worst performers of the session was Boeing (NYSE:BA) Co that was down 0.91%.
set the tone, with forecasts showing that employers added 175,000 jobs last month, according to the median of 102 economists polled by Reuters.
Pivot: 2275 Support: 2260 2257 2253 Resistance: 2275 2281 2284 Scenario 1: short positions below 2275.00 with targets at 2260.00 & 2257.00 in extension. Scenario 2: above 2275.00 look for further upside with 2281.00 & 2284.00 as targets. Comment: the RSI is bearish and calls for further decline.