The dollar has been on the front foot all week amid a combination of Monday’s hawkish comments from FOMC chair Powell, rising geopolitical risks and some solid US economic data.
Thursday’s services PMI from ISM was very pleasing on the eye, with the index rising back up to 54.9 from 51.5, well above the 51.7 consensus and its highest level since February 2023. This not only effectively puts to bed any concerns over an imminent slowdown but suggest that activity is actually accelerating as we head into year-end.
Focus now turns firmly to this afternoon’s payrolls report for September.
US labour indicators this week have been largely positive, with the ADP employment change number (143k from 103k) and job openings (8.04M vs. 7.7M) up on the previous month. While this could point to a stronger NFP print today, it far from guarantees one.
Economists are bracing for another job creation print around the 140k level, with annual earnings and the jobless rate set to remain unchanged. Another rate reduction from the Fed in November seems set in stone, but we think that we would need to see a relatively sizable miss in today’s data for markets to start seriously considering a second straight 50bp cut.
The information contained in this document was obtained from sources believed to be reliable, but its accuracy or completeness cannot be guaranteed. Any opinions expressed herein are in good faith, but are subject to change without notice. No liability accepted whatsoever for any direct or consequential loss arising from the use of this document.
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