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Composed of a group of economic journalists and FX experts, the FXStreet content team produces and oversees all content published on FXStreet. It provides a purely journalistic approach to the Forex market.
USD/JPY retests the August monthly swing low during the Asian session on Friday as a more hawkish repricing of BoJ rate-hike bets and a suspected intervention continue to underpin the Japanese Yen. Meanwhile, the US Dollar is seen consolidating the previous day's heavy losses amid soft US bond yields, further weighing on the currency pair as traders keenly await the US NFP report.
AUD/USD holds steady above 0.7200, near its highest level since mid-May, as bulls await the US NFP report for more cues on the Fed's policy path before placing fresh bets. Meanwhile, the recent decline in US bond yields keeps the US Dollar depressed near its lowest level in over a week and acts as a tailwind for the Aussie amid the RBA's hawkish tilt.
Gold remains on the defensive below the $4,500 mark through the Asian session, snapping a two-day winning streak amid a modest US Dollar uptick. The commodity, however, remains close to the weekly high, which it touched the previous day, as traders keenly await the release of the closely watched US monthly employment details. The popularly known US Nonfarm Payrolls (NFP) report will provide more cues about the Fed's policy path amid receding bets of a September rate hike.
Bitcoin is trading above $80,000 on Friday, sustaining the broader cryptocurrency market's risk-on sentiment. Federal Reserve (Fed) Governor Christopher Waller signaled support for a potential pause in interest rates on Thursday, lowering the odds of a September rate hike to 50%. Zcash (ZEC) and Ethena (ENA) emerge as top performers over the last 24 hours.
As we move to the end of the week, the focus shifts to the macro data, and to the strength of the labour market in the US. August payrolls are released on Friday at 1330 BST, and the market is expecting a reading of 58k. The unemployment rate is expected to remain steady at 4.1% and wage growth is expected to moderate slightly to 3% last month, down from 3.2%.
The Oil market may look calmer than it did a few months ago, but diesel is sending a very different message. The US diesel crack spread, the premium of ultra-low sulphur diesel futures over WTI, recently surged above $100 per barrel for the first time, reaching an intraday record of just over $102.00.
