Weakening USD Forex Market Regains Traction

• Dollar Bounces Back Ahead of NFP Numbers
• Big Losses for GBP Ahead of Rate Hike
• Stocks Quiet With Data to Come

The end of the week has brought another bounce higher from the US Dollar forex market. The currency was trading slightly lower through the middle of the week but gained more positive momentum as the focus switched to the NFP job numbers in the US which will be released today. On the other side of the pond, there were big losses for the Pound Sterling with the Bank of England announcing a rate hike and on Wall Street, traders remain poised to move when the employment data is revealed. 

USD Higher Again Ahead of Data

The US Dollar has had a somewhat topsy turvy week, going higher early in the week to then give up some ground in recent days. It has managed to regain traction though and posted modest gains going into Friday. The currency is trading at just around 1.02 against the Euro, and 1.215 against the Pound. This comes ahead of the NFP Job numbers expected today.  

These numbers, according to analysts, are forecast to show 258,000 jobs have been added in July. This is a drop from the previous monthly number of 372,000 although this may not absolutely be bad for the Fed with unemployment expected to hold at around 3.6% and wages to rise by 0.3% as the country and others worldwide continue to battle rampant inflation. 

Sterling Struggles as Rate Hike Announced

Sterling to a dive yesterday as the struggle for those forex trading the currency continued. The Pound has not been able to gather any momentum in recent months with a number of domestic issues hampering progress. These include Brexit as well as the untimely exit of leader Boris Johnson. Now the Bank of England has announced a rate hike to come. 

The policymakers announced that rates were increased by 50 basis points to 1.75% from its August policy meeting. This came along with some less than enthusiastic economic outlook comments that the UK economy could go into recession during the last quarter of the year. This caused the Pound to drop substantially before leveling out. 

Stocks Quiet on Employment Data Day

On Wall Street, stock brokers have been spared any big moves such as those seen by forex brokers in the Pound yesterday. Trading remains quiet and cautious as is usual on the morning prior to any major data release. Employment figures are due for the month at around 8:30 am on Friday. 

These figures could work to move the market in either direction should they miss expectations with little else on the docket in terms of important economic data. The major markets in the US have also been trading relatively quietly throughout the week. The S&P 500 and Dow Jones are both trading up just about 0.5% from where they started the week while the Nasdaq is up just over 2.5%.