Big tech mixed, focus shifts to US jobs data [Video]

Three US tech giants revealed their Q4 results yesterday, after the bell and the results were mixed. Meta jumped 15% in the after hours trading, Amazon gained a bit more than 2.5% while Apple shares tumbled almost 3%. Today, Exxon and Chevron are due to announce how well they did last quarter.

On the macroeconomic front, the Bank of England (BoE) kept its rates unchanged yesterday but opened the door to rate cuts mentioning ‘good news on inflation’. Cable rebounded despite a dovish takeaway from the MPC meeting as the US dollar fell sharply despite better-than-expected ISM manufacturing survey. In the euro area, inflation fell slower than expected in January. Combined with a softer US dollar, the EURUSD jumped from 1.0780, a few pips above the 100-DMA. The Swedish Riksbank also held rates steady yesterday and gave the happy news that a rate cut will be coming in H1.

The US is expected to have added less than 200K jobs this January, for around the same pay growth of 4.1% and unemployment rate is seen ticking slightly higher to 3.8%. A reasonably weak number should revive the Federal Reserve (Fed) doves, while a strong number should melt the March rate cut expectations.