The Greenback strengthened against the European single currency, as Friday's report revealed that hiring in the US accelerated. The EUR/USD exchange rate lost 31 base points or 0.25% to the 1.2460 mark.
The job growth in the US increased in January, while wages surged further, recording the strongest annual growth in more than eight years, fuelling expectations that consumer inflation would push higher in 2018, as the job market reaches full employment. The Labour Department stated that non-farm payrolls rose 200K positions last month. Meanwhile, the jobless rate rmained at the lowest level in 17 years of 4.1%. Strong data underscored robust growth momentum, encouraging the Fed to be more agressive in hiking interest rates in 2018.
| Historical Data Table: US Non-Farm Employment Change | Economic Calendar for 05.02.2018 | ||||||||
| Date | 06.10.2017 | 03.11.2017 | 08.12.2017 | 05.01.2018 | 02.02.2018 | 9:30 AM | Uk Services PMI | ||
| Actual | -33K | 261K | 228K | 148K | 200K | 3:00 PM | ISM Non-Manufacturing PMI | ||
| Forecast | 82K | 312K | 198K | 190K | 181K | 4:00 PM | ECB Mario Draghi Speech | ||
| Initial Reaction on Main Pairs | SWFX Sentiment Indexes | ||||||||
| Open Price | Close Price | % Change | Longs | Shorts | |||||
| AUD/USD | 0.79927 | 0.79471 | -0.57% | AUD/USD | 44.03% | 55.97% | |||
| EUR/USD | 1.24918 | 1.24604 | -0.25% | EUR/USD | 32.86% | 67.14% | |||
| USD/JPY | 109.924 | 110.313 | 0.35% | USD/JPY | 66.91% | 33.09% | |||
| NZD/USD | 0.73669 | 0.7323 | -0.60% | NZD/USD | 34.38% | 65.62% | |||