Towards the end of the week, investors are seeing more pronounced market movements with significant reactions in several major currencies.
Closing trading for the month of October yesterday, the US dollar was seen showing signs of strengthening again after a rather dismal performance from the beginning of the week.
Last Wednesday, the United States (US) economic growth report for the third quarter of 2024 showed a lower initial reading of 2.8% compared to the forecast of 3.0%, slightly down from the reading in the second quarter.
Meanwhile, the US private sector job growth figure on the ADP data was excellent with a strong increase to 233,000 in October, well above the forecast of 110,000.
This reflects a strong picture of the labor sector in addition to giving a positive signal for the NFP employment report that will be published today (Friday) in the New York session shortly.
On Thursday, the inflation component of the Federal Reserve's (Fed) focus was observed with readings for the PCE price index that measures personal spending by US consumers meeting expectations for a slight increase in September compared to August.
Analysts expect the US dollar to return to showing real performance at the opening of November trading but in a cautious mood ahead of several key focuses.
As investors are wary of uncertainty ahead of next week's presidential election, the outcome of the latest FOMC meeting will also be awaited after the Fed cut interest rates by 50 basis points last September.
Markets are placing high expectations for the Fed to implement a smaller rate cut this time, while still continuing to ease monetary policy.
The Pound was among the worst performers yesterday while the Yen strengthened again following a hawkish signal by the Bank of Japan (BOJ) after it announced interest rates would remain at 0.25%.
Commodity markets also surprised investors when gold prices posted a sharp drop after hitting a recent record high of $2,950.
