The U.S. Dollar is down against it’s major trading peers this morning ahead of a pivotal jobs report at 8:30am, and despite a clash between the U.S. and Iran in the Hormuz Strait overnight.
At home, Nonfarm Payrolls are expected to show an addition of 65k jobs for the month of April, which would constitute a dramatic slowdown in jobs growth from the March figure of 178k, and the Unemployment Rate is expected to come in unchanged at 4.3%. Abroad, the Iranian army seized an oil tanker in the Gulf of Oman, and U.S. forces targeted Iranian military assets, including missile and drone launch sites, that Washington says were responsible for attacking three U.S. warships as they transited the Hormuz Strait. This escalation threatens to further undermine an already tenuous ceasefire ahead of Iran’s expected response to the latest U.S. peace proposal in the coming days.
What to Watch This Week…
- Monex USA Online is always open
GBP ⇑
The British Pound is up against the Buck this morning after the ruling Labour party lost almost half of the seats it was defending in local elections. Although the pace of losses is below the absolute worst-case predictions, the results are clearly reinforcing the idea that the public are fed up with Prime Minister Keir Starmer and Labour’s ability to manage the country. A large part of the losses are coming from Nigel Farage’s populist Reform UK, which swept through the Labour heartlands and has come out as the biggest gainer of seats on the day. Despite such a poor showing, Starmer has vowed to stay on in the top job.
CAD ⇑
The Canadian Dollar is up against the Greenback this morning ahead of the Great White North’s own jobs data release at 8:30am. The release is expected to show a net addition of 10k jobs for the month of April, down from the previous month’s figure of just over 14k, and the Unemployment Rate is expected to come in unchanged from the previous month at 6.7%.
