Forex Today: Upbeat US data spurs risk appetite

FXStreet Team FXStreet

What you need to know on Friday, April 30:

The US preliminary estimate for the first quarter Gross Domestic Product came in at 6.4%, beating expectations. The dollar, however, was unable to take advantage of the encouraging headline, instead pressured by risk-appetite.

Wall Street suffered an intraday setback, with the three major indexes turning red, although changing course ahead of the close and posting intraday gains. The greenback eased as stocks advanced.

The yield on the 10-year Treasury note peaked at 1.69% but settled around 1.65%.

Base metal shinned. Cooper and Palladium reached record highs, although gold remained within familiar levels, settling at around $ 1,773 a troy ounce.

European currencies hit fresh weekly highs against the greenback but finished the day pretty much unchanged within familiar levels.

The Canadian dollar was the best performer as oil prices kept advancing. WTI settled above $ 65.00 a barrel while USD/CAD fell to the 1.2280 price zone.

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EUR/USD holds firm above 1.1900 as US NFP looms

EUR/USD holds its upbeat momentum above 1.1900 in the European trading hours on Wednesday, helped by a broadly weaker US Dollar. Markets could turn cautious later in the day as the delayed US employment report for January will takes center stage.

GBP/USD remains above nine-day EMA near 1.3650

GBP/USD recovers its recent losses from the previous session, trading around 1.3680 during the European hours on Wednesday. The technical analysis of the daily chart indicates a sustained bullish bias, as the pair trades within an ascending channel pattern.

Gold sticks to gains near $5,050 as focus shifts to US NFP

Gold holds moderate gains near the $5,050 level in the European session on Wednesday, reversing a part of the previous day's modest losses amid dovish US Federal Reserve-inspired US Dollar weakness. This, in turn, is seen as a key factor acting as a tailwind for the non-yielding yellow metal ahead of the critical US NFP release.

US Nonfarm Payrolls expected to show modest job gains in January

The United States Bureau of Labor Statistics will release the delayed Nonfarm Payrolls data for January on Wednesday at 13:30 GMT. Investors expect NFP to rise by 70K following the 50K increase recorded in December.

S&P 500 at 7,000 is a valuation test, not a liquidity problem

The rebound from last week’s drawdown never quite shook the sense that it was being supported by borrowed conviction. The S&P 500 once again tested near the 7,000 level (6,986 as the high watermark) and failed, despite a macro backdrop that would normally be interpreted as supportive of risk.

Bitcoin price slips below $67,000 ahead of US Nonfarm Payrolls data

Bitcoin price extends losses, and trades below the lower consolidating boundary at $67,300 at the time of writing. A firm close below this level could trigger a deeper correction for BTC. Despite the weakness in price action, institutional demand shows signs of support, recording mild inflows in ETFs so far this week.