Daily Market Update

While November payroll data was positive, adding 64k jobs rather than the 50k expected, the unemployment rate came in higher than expected at 4.6% and October payroll data showed a reduction of 105k jobs rather than the 25k anticipated. Retail sales also printed this morning and were better than expected across the board, so the amount of weight that can be given to those October numbers is still unclear for the time being. Traders will be looking ahead to inflation numbers being released on Thursday to continue building that comprehensive picture of the economy for 2026.

Elsewhere, the race is heating up for who will be named as the next Chairman of the Federal Reserve as Jerome Powell approaches the end of his tenure in May. White House Economic Advisor Kevin Hasset has been expected to be the President’s pick, and Traders had begun pricing in his nomination, but Former Fed Governor Kevin Warsh has recently come out as a potential new favorite.

What to Watch This Week…

• Monex USA Online is always open

EUR ⇑

The Euro is also a top performer against the Buck this morning after PMI releases across the Euro Zone show a 12th straight month of economic expansion. It does appear as if the momentum that the Euro has been building is starting to slow down since this is the lowest composite reading since April. The European Central Bank will hold it’s December policy meeting on Thursday and is expected to hold benchmark rates at 2.0%.

GBP ⇑

The British Pound is the G10’s best performer versus the Greenback this morning after a great PMI release has provided some much-needed reassurance that the UK economy is clearing the period of turmoil that it was experiencing in the run up to the November budget release. While this release should not influence the Bank of England’s decision to cut interest rates later this week, it does indicate that growth is likely to rebound early in 2026, as it has in recent years.