FXStreet – U.S. stocks closed posting modest gains today on Thursday while investor await the key nonfarm payrolls report tomorrow.
The data has been a very important indicator for the Fed while the FOMC assessing the US economy for signs of room to hike rates gradually and normalize monetary policy. The S&P 500 index rose 2.92 points, or 0.2 percent, to 1,915.45. The Dow added 0.5 percent, or 79.92 points to 16,416.58 while the Nasdaq rose by just 0.1 percent, adding 5.32 points to 4,509.56.
Elsewhere, oil and the US dollar were big volatility plays as investors remain jittery and nervous in the first week of February’s business after a volatile start to 2016.
In respect of tomorrow’s data, Valeria Bednarik explained within her preview, “The US economy is expected to have added 190K new jobs in January, compared to the 292K added in December. The unemployment rate is expected to remain steady at 5%, whilst average hourly earnings, monthly basis, are expected to rise by 0.3%. It won’t be strange to see a revision of December headline number and if the release misses expectations, the most likely scenario will be another leg lower for the greenback against its major rivals. “
Nonfarm Payrolls: Expect another round of dollar sell-off
(Market News Provided by FXstreet)