08 January 2021 : Fundamental investors will be focusing on the US non-farm payrolls release later today, amid expectations for a mere increase of 50,000 jobs in December. Such a figure would be a far cry from the millions of jobs that were restored in the months after the initial national lockdown was ended. A December NFP print of 50,000 would merely be one-fifth of the jobs added in the month prior which notably was below expectations, signaling that the post-lockdown recovery in the labour market is stalling.
Still, the prospects of more fiscal stimulus under the incoming Biden administration should help tide the US economy over. After all, the President-elect did vow this week to mail out those US$2,000 checks “immediately” if the Democrats won the Georgia Senate runoffs. With such expectations intact, the Dollar index may not have many legs left in its recent rebound.
Source: Han Tan, Market Analyst at FXTM
Reporting for EasyKobo on Friday, 08 January 2021 in Lagos, Nigeria