This week the global market witnessed more aggressive rate rises by the RBA and BOE, and investors are now turning their eye on the release of US labor market data today. The US Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) will release the July NFP numbers today at 12.30 GMT. The market is expecting 250K new jobs, and the unemployment rate is to remain steady at 3.6%. The NFP report gives out the number of paid US workers of any business but excludes government employees, farm employees and non-profit organization employees.

EQUITIES

European shares traded slightly lower while except for the rising Japanese equities, other Asian share markets mostly eased on Friday. On the other hand, the UK shares remain under pressure after the Bank of England predicted 6-straight quarters of negative growth in England starting in Q4.

OIL

Crude oil prices strong bearish sentiment continues and reached the lowest levels in six months. Crude has tumbled since early June on escalating fears the US may be heading for a recession as central banks hike rates aggressively to combat inflation.

CURRENCIES

In the currency market, the GBPUSD recovered back to above 1.2150 on Thursday morning. During the previous session, the currency pair fell to a fresh weekly low of 1.2065 after a negative global outlook from the Bank of England policy meeting. Meanwhile, the Euro holding the gains against the US dollar lifted by strong macro-economic data from Germany and Eurozone.

GOLD

The safe haven metal climbed to a fresh monthly high of $1794 on Thursday supported by inflation worries and lingering geopolitical risks. As of the writing, the metal retreats back to below $1786 and the further direction will depend on NFP figures which will release later today.

Economic Outlook

On the data front, the Bank of England raised interest rates by 50 basis points and warned that inflation would peak above 13% in October. The central bank expects the economy to shrink in the final three months of this year and keep shrinking until the end of 2023.

Moving ahead today, the important events to watch:

US – Non-Farm payrolls: GMT – 12.30

Canada – Employment report: GMT – 12.30

Coronavirus update:

Worldwide, more than 577 million people have been confirmed infected and more than 6.4 million have died. The United States has confirmed over 91 million cases and has had more than 1.02 million deaths from COVID-19, the highest totals in the world.

Technical Outlook and Review

EURUSD: For today, the first nearest support level is located at 1.0180. In case it breaks below this level, it will head towards the next support level which is located near 1.0130/00. On the upper side, 1.0250 will act as an immediate and strong hurdle while 1.0290 will be a critical resistance zone because above this, bulls are likely to dominate.

The important levels to watch for today: Support- 1.0180 and 1.0100 Resistance- 1.0250 and 1.0290.

GOLD: For today, If the bullish momentum continues then the next upside level is to watch at 1800 and 1806. On the other hand, the next immediate support prevails at 1772/70, a further breakout of 1770 can lead the metal towards 1760 levels.

The important levels to watch for today: Support- 1772 and 1760 Resistance- 1795 and 1806.

Quote of the day - “Do not anticipate and move without market confirmation - being a little late in your trade is your insurance that you are right or wrong.” - Jesse Livermore.