Stock indices on track for sixth straight week of gains

Chris Beauchamp IG

'European and US stock indices had another positive session on solid US employment data and look to be on track for their sixth straight week of gains, says Axel Rudolph, Senior Market Analyst at online trading platform IG.

Stock rally continues amid strong US labour data

“Unlike softer US job opening and ADP employment data earlier in the week, US Non-Farm Payrolls came in stronger-than-expected at 199k versus a forecast 180k. 28k of these have been added back to the November data since United Auto Workers strikers re-entered the workforce."

Plethora of central bank meetings ahead

"Employment growth is below the average monthly gain of 240,000 over the prior 12 months but is in line with job growth in recent months while unemployment fell back to 3.7% and average hourly earnings rose slightly more than expected. The US Michigan consumer sentiment index also beat expectations, leading to a probable sixth consecutive week of gains for several global stock markets and soaring US yields from their recent three-month lows. The US dollar pared initial gains, the gold price slipped and the oil price stabilized but still saw its seventh consecutive week of falling prices ahead of next week's Fed, ECB and BOE meetings. "

Author

Chris Beauchamp

EUR/USD trims gains, back below 1.1800

EUR/USD now loses some upside momentum, returning to the area below the 1.1800 support as the Greenback manages to regain some composure following the SCOTUS-led pullback earlier in the session.

GBP/USD off highs, recedes to the sub-1.3500 area

Following earlier highs north of 1.3500 the figure, GBP/USD now faces some renewed downside pressure, revisiting the 1.3490 zone as the US Dollar manages to regain some upside impulse in the latter part of the NA session on Friday.

Gold climbs to weekly tops, approaches $5,100/oz

Gold keeps the bid tone well in place at the end of the week, now hitting fresh weekly highs and retargeting the key $5,100 mark per troy ounce. The move higher in the yellow metal comes in response to ongoing geopolitical tensions in the Middle East and modest losses in the US Dollar.