Equities consolidate ahead of US labor market data

US benchmarks fell on Thursday, reacting to better than expected US data, which might force the Fed to start tightening monetary policy sooner than expected.

Yesterday, data showed the ADP private payrolls increased by 978,000 in May, way above forecasts of 650,000; weekly initial jobless claims fell below 400,000 for the first time since the start of the pandemic; and the ISM services survey index rose to 64 in May, the highest on record, up from 62.7 in April.

Later today, the US non-farm payrolls number is expected to increase by 650,000, although the official number might be a lot higher. The unemployment rate should improve from 6.1% to 5.9%.

The same data will be released from Canada as well – the Canadian economy is forecast to lose 20,000 jobs in May, while the unemployment rate should worsen to 8.2%. That should be bullish for the USDCAD pair. 

The US dollar accelerated higher yesterday, and the EURUSD pair managed to break below a steep uptrend line, ending the short-term bullish trend. The USDJPY pair advanced above 110, and as long as the greenback trades above that mark, the short-term outlook might be bullish.

Dollar strength undermined precious metals, with silver falling 3% and gold 2% on Thursday, both metals ending their short-term uptrends for now.

Source: https://www.axiory.com/market-news/equities-consolidate-ahead-of-us-labor-market-data