Uncle Sam is printing its June NFP report today!
Are you ready to trade the release? Today I’m looking at USD/JPY’s prices as it approaches a key area of interest.
But first, check out the headlines that rocked the markets in the last trading sessions:
Fresh Market Headlines & Economic Data:
- U.S. unemployment claims sink to pandemic low of 364,000 as extra benefits start to get phased out
- US manufacturing: Too hot to handle
- Oil prices up about 2% on OPEC+ output, demand prospects
- ANZ-Roy Morgan New Zealand consumer confidence virtually unchanged in June
- Australia’s Scott Morrison announces new roadmap to get Australia out of lockdown
Upcoming Potential Catalysts on the Economic Calendar:
- U.S. non-farm payrolls reports at 12:30 pm GMT
- U.S. trade balance at 12:30 pm GMT
- Canada’s trade balance and building permits at 12:30 pm GMT
- Canada’s manufacturing PMI at 1:30 pm GMT
- U.S. factory orders at 2:00 pm GMT
What to Watch: USD/JPY
In a few hours, the U.S. will print its June non-farm payrolls (NFP) data. Forex Gump has told me that markets see the headline NFP at 700K with the unemployment rate and wage growth numbers also showing improvements.
But did the U.S. labor market really improve last month?Leading indicators reflect the continued challenges from the manufacturing and services sectors to attract workers as the summer months and federal employment relief programs keep the children (and their working-age parents) at home.
Traders will look to today’s numbers for clues on the pace of the Fed’s tapering or tightening plans.
If the numbers come in better than expected, then there will be increased pressure on the Fed to take away some of the juice from the markets.
USD/JPY could hit the 112.00 psychological handle that dollar bulls haven’t broken since March 2019. That’s around the time Disney merged with 21st Century Fox!
If the report misses expectations like it did last month, though, then the dollar could lose some of its intraweek gains against the yen. USD/JPY could dip back to the 110.50 previous area of interest.
