The US services sector is OK: 54 points. The ISM Non-Manufacturing purchasing managers’ index was expected to tick up to 53.6 points from 53 in December. The employment component is critical for the NFP on Friday and it also came out better than in December: 56.4 instead of 55.8 beforehand. This raises expectations for a good number from the BLS.
Prior to the release, the US dollar was recovering. EUR/USD was around 1.3515, GBP/USD traded around 1.6280 and USD/JPY was at 101.25. The US dollar is moving a bit higher now.
New orders came out at 50.9, climbing above the 50 point number separating growth from contraction. Prices paid stand at 57.1 points.
USD/JPY enjoys a nice rise following the publication, climbing to 101.50 and extending its recovery. USD/CAD posts a strong reaction to the data, and extends its rises. The pair is now above 1.11 once again. At 1.113, CAD/USD is under 0.90.
EUR/USD and GBP/USD are hardly moving. The euro is awaiting the rate decision tomorrow.
Earlier, Markit’s final services PMI was upgraded from 56.6 to 56.7 points.
ADP NFP came out at 175K, slightly below expectations, but not a terrible number and the revision for December was not horrible: 227K instead of 238K. This implies that the poor NFP for December could be upgraded to the upside.
Earlier in the week, the same institute, ISM, reported a depressing number for the manufacturing sector: 51.3. This hurt global markets, even though it was blamed on the weather.
All in all, the picture for the Non-Farm Payrolls has improved.
More:Â Returning to hype
