Things to watch out for on Friday, December 2:
The dollar extended its slide to multi-month lows against most of its main rivals amid lingering optimism and tepid US data, which supports the Federal Reserve’s monetary policy pivot.
Earlier in the day, the USD was affected by the BOJ. Asahi Noguchi, a member of the board of directors of the Bank of Japan , surprised investors by saying the central bank is willing to withdraw stimulus if inflation numbers look too strong: “The BOJ may preemptively withdraw stimulus if core inflation rises more than expected,” the official said of monetary policy. USD/JPY is trading in the 135.40 price zone.
Meanwhile, some Chinese cities have announced that they are easing their policies related to coronavirus testing and control. The country has entered a new stage in the fight against the virus, according to a senior person in charge of the fight against Covid. The relief news pushed Asian and European stocks higher, which in turn undermined demand for the USD.
The price index of personal consumption spending ( PCE) from USArose 6% year-on-year in October, which represents a reduction of 6.3%. Core PCE inflation stood at 5% in the same period, compared to 5.2% in September. In addition, the ISM Manufacturing PMI fell to 49 in November, from 50.2 previously, marking the first time the indicator has signaled contraction since May 2020.
EUR/USD has recaptured the 1.0500 threshold and is trading above it despite softer Eurozone growth numbers. GBP/USD is around 1.2250 before the US close. The AUD/USD pair is trading around 0.6810, while the Canadian dollar was the worst performer as USD/CAD ended the day in the 1.3430 price zone.
Gold soared to $1,802 a troy ounce, its highest since August. Crude oil prices also rose, with WTI trading at $81.30 a barrel.
On Friday, the United States will publish the report non-farm payrolls, while Canada will also publish its monthly employment report.
Source: Fx Street
I am Joshua Winder, a senior-level journalist and editor at World Stock Market. I specialize in covering news related to the stock market and economic trends. With more than 8 years of experience in this field, I have become an expert in financial reporting.
