“¢ The USD gets a minor bump post-stronger than expected monthly jobs report.
“¢ Fading optimism over US-China trade relations kept a lid on any further up-move.
The USD/JPY pair held on to its positive tone through the early North-American session, albeit continued with its struggle to build on the momentum further beyond the 113.00 handle post-US NFP report.
The latest US monthly jobs report smashed market expectations and showed that the US economy added 250K new jobs in October, more than double previous month’s downwardly revised reading of 118K (134K reported earlier), and the unemployment rate held steady at 3.7%.
Adding to the upbeat headline NFP print, the average hourly earnings jumped by 3.1% y/y, in line with expectations and marked the highest increase since April 2009. A very strong report reaffirmed an eventual Fed rate hike in December and quite a few more in 2019, which eventually provided a minor lift to the US Dollar.
The uptick, however, lacked any strong follow-through/conviction as the positive readings were largely offset by the latest trade-related headlines, wherein CNBC’s Washington correspondent Eamon Javers tweeted that the report president Trump is ready to cut a trade deal with China is not true.
With today’s key event risk out of the way, the broader market risk sentiment, which remains at the mercy of any fresh developments surrounding the US-China trade-tensions, might turn out to be an exclusive driver of the pair’s momentum through the US trading session on the last day of the week.
Technical outlook
Yohay Elam, FXStreet’s own Analyst explains: “112.90 capped the pair in late October. Above, 113.10 was a swing high in early November and also held the pair down in the summer. 113.40 was the peak in late October. Further above, 114.00 is a round number and also a stepping stone on the way up in late September. The 2018 high of 114.60 is next up.”
“112.55 is was a swing low in early November. 111.80 provided support in late October and capped the pair in August. 111.40 was a swing low in late October. September trough of 110.40 is the next line to watch on the downside,” he added further.
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