NFP smashes expectations!

TAKEAWAYS

•    March US non-farm payrolls reach 916,000, beat expectations
•    Ethereum token Ether hits record high of $2100
•    Major FX fairs EUR/USD, GBP/USD drop after NFP beat
•    Dollar rises for third week straight (DXY > 0.93)
•    Gold sees small losses after big US jobs report
•    Oil finishes the week higher by 1% after OPEC+ output decision
•    European stocks closed for Easter Monday, Wall Street will reopen after long weekend
•    Tesla reports record deliveries (184,800) in Q1
•    DAY AHEAD: US services PMIs

BEST CHART
GBP/JPY– Weekly Candlesticks

 
Source: GKFX / MT4 (April 4, 2021)

GBP/JPY has rebounded after a pullback into a previous resistance zone around 150, suggesting it is now support. If the upwards momentum continues, the price is on course to test 156, the multi-year high from February 2018.

GURU WISDOM

“You need to know very well when to move away, or give up the loss, and not allow the anxiety to trick you into trying again.” – Warren Buffett

MARKETS

*Daily closing price
↘ EUR/USD    1.1762        (-0.11%)
↘ GBP/USD    1.3829        (-0.01%)
↗ USD/JPY    109.15        (+0.10%)
↗ S&P 500    4019.87    CLOSED
↗ Hang Seng    28,938.74    (+1.97%)
↘ Gold        1728.84    (-0.08%)
↗ Oil (Brent)    68.77        CLOSED
↘ Bitcoin    57,265        (-3.37%)

NEWS

US non-farm payrolls blew through expectations with almost a million jobs created in March as the latest stimulus effects kicked in and multiple states reopened. NFP came in at 916,000 versus the 660,000 consensus estimate and 379,000 in February. That saw the US unemployment rate fall back to 6.0% from 6.2%. The leisure and hospitality sector was the biggest contributor after some US states lifted covid restrictions and reopened restaurants and hotels.

The blowout NFP result nudged the dollar higher in thin trading on the Good Friday holiday, helping it finish a third week higher in a row and the dollar index (DXY) to rise over 0.93. The price of spot gold was little changed with the gold futures markets closed.

World number two cryptocurrency by market cap Ether from the Ethereum blockchain hit a record high of $2100 on Friday. The previous record of $2036 was recorded in February. The gains came after Visa announced it will use the stable coin ‘USD Coin’ backed by the US dollar to settle crypto transactions over the Ethereum blockchain.

Wall Street as well as markets in Asia will have a chance to react to the US jobs report when stock markets reopen on Monday, however markets in the UK and Europe will remain closed – meaning another day of lower liquidity. 

DAY AHEAD 

*Times in GMT
Europe / UK Easter Monday bank holiday
13:45 – US Markit PMI Composite (Mar) (59.1 Exp vs. 59.1 Prev)
14:00 – US ISM Services PMI(Mar) (58.5 Exp vs. 55.3 Prev)
14:00 – US Factory Orders (MoM)(Feb) (    -0.5 % Exp vs. 2.6 % Prev)

Source: TradingWriters.com