- Greenback comes under heavy selling pressure in the NA session.
- Mixed employment data and disappointing PMI figures weigh on the buck.
- GBP/USD looks to post its highest weekly close since mid-March.
The GBP/USD pair gathered further bullish momentum after breaking above the 1.31 mark in the early NA session and extended its daily rally to a monthly high of 1.3174 before going into a consolidation phase. As of writing, the pair was up more than 100 pips on the day at 1.3138.
The data from the U.S. today showed that the unemployment rate fell to its lowest level in more than 49 years at 3.6% in April with nonfarm payrolls increasing by an impressive 263,000 in the same period. However, the underlying details of the report revealed that the labour force participation rate declined to 62.8% and wage inflation stayed unchanged at 0.2% and 3.2% on a monthly and yearly basis, respectively, to make it difficult for the greenback to gather strength against its rivals.
Other data from the U.S. revealed that the service sector in April expanded at a slower pace than anticipated with the ISM and the IHS Markit’s PMI figures both retreating from their March readings.
Following a quick jump to a fresh weekly high of 98.10, the US Dollar Index erased a large part of the gains it posted in the second half of the week and was last seen down 0.26% on the day at 97.58. For the week, the index is down around 0.5%.
Technical levels to consider
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