US (and Canada) employment out at the bottom of the hour

As the market awaits the US employment Report, the GBP is the strongest while the AUD is the weakest. The Australian retail sales were weaker than expected today (0.0% vs 0.4% estimate).

The USD is mixed rising against the EUR, CAD and AUD, but falling against the VHF< NZD and GBP. The greenback is unchanged versus the JPY in the morning snapshot.

The market volatility is limited as a market awaits the key release. The USDCHF ranges only 24 pips. The USDJPY's range is 26 pips and the EURUSD's is 29 pips - all are well below their 22 day averages (the red line in the lower chart below). There is room to roam on a surprise.

The expectations are for:

  • nonfarm payroll 313 K versus - 33K last month
  • unemployment rate 4.2% versus 4.2% last month
  • manufacturing payrolls 15 K versus -1K
  • average hourly earnings of 0.2% versus 0.5%. Year on year 2.7% versus 2.9%

For Canada:

  • net change in employment 15 K versus 10K
  • unemployment rate 6.2% versus 6.2%

In other markets, the snapshot shows:

  • spot gold is down $1.89 or -0.15% at $1274.17
  • WTI crude oilis up $.17 or +0.31% at $54.71
  • US treasury yields are up marginally: 2-year 1.616%, +0.8 basis points, 5-year 2.006%, up 0.6 basis points, 10 year 2.348%, +0.4 basis points, 30 year 2.8279%, up 0.3 basis points
  • US stock futures are higher in premarket trading. S&P futures are up 1.25 points. Dow futures are up 31 points. NASDAQ futures are up 20 points. Apple's earnings beat expectations after the close. Their shares are currently up $5.80.