MORNING BRIEFING: Focus on US unemployment figures

[RTFX-Trading]

MORNING BRIEFING: Focus on US unemployment figures

What’s new :
United States: Publication of unemployment figures at 14:30 ECT
United States: Weakest jobless claims since 2008
Great Britain: Excellent PMI
Euro zone: PMI up
Germany: Best PMI for 10 years
Switzerland: SNB intervention
Japan: Exit the Yen for Japanese investors?
China: Improving PMI raises fear of a rate hike

Today:


Rates in Asia and Indices:
EURUSD: 1.3591 - 1.3565.
USDCHF: 1.0572 - 1.0537.
GBPUSD: 1.5297 - 1.5251.
EURJPY: 127.56 - 127.15.
USDJPY: 93.89 - 93.67.
DowJones: 10'927 .07 -0.47%
NASDAQ: +0.65% 2'397 .96
S & P 500: +0.74% 1'178 .10
Nikkei: 11'288 .29 +0.39%
Shanghai +0.09% 3'150 .40
Gold: $ 1'120 .00
Crude Oil: $ 84.42

Comments:
Awaited by the markets, unemployment figures in the United States will be published this afternoon at 14:00 ECT. The weekly publication of new jobless claims yesterday showed encouraging signs, with a figure of 439'000, the lowest since 2008.

Publication across Europe yesterday of PMI index, between 1-100 and summarizing the opinions of executives to give a picture of the future of the manufacturing sector, a number above 50 is considered as an indication of manufacturing growth.

Encouraging in Great Britain, the PMI rose to 57.2 for the month of March against 56.5 for February, the best growth performance since October 1994.

For the Euro zone PMI at 56.6 in March (54.2 in February), the best 3 in years, also indicates a positive sentiment among manufacturers, while the German PMI at 60.2 (57.2 in February) is the best for 10 years. The French PMI is no exception to this trend, as it is the best since November 2006.

At the close of European markets and before the long Easter weekend, the SNB (Swiss National Bank) took advantage of a narrow market to respond effectively against the appreciation of its currency, the EURCHF reacting almost 300 points back above 1.44 before retreating slightly.

In Asia, the start of new fiscal year could see the Japanese investors to diversify out of JPY for currencies with higher yields.

Chinese PMI is no exception to the trend, showing an increase from February to March from 52.0 to 55.1, bringing out the speculation for a rate hike by the Central Bank of China.

Excellent Easter holidays,

Pascal Bovay

RTFX Ltd
Trading desk
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