Summary:

  • Inflation in the Eurozone slows down

  • Traders stay cautious ahead of NFP report

  • Ethereum breaks above $1k

Trading on Friday is quite calm with majority of the European indices posting solid gains. Traders await for the NFP report as it is considered a top-tier data for both, investors and Fed. US Dollar remains supported ahead of US jobs data. WTI prices retreat from the $62 handle. Gold pulls back from 4-month high.

As per market expectations inflation in the Eurozone slowed down in December which can be mostly ascribed to a base effect as the same stories were seen in other European countries except France. On top of that the core rate of inflation failed to speed up sticking to its November’s value.

Although the major attention has been paid to Ripple of late as it’s made an incredible pick-up, now it could be Ethereum’s time. The digital currency topped a $1k mark for the first time ever and as a result its market capitalization quite easily surpassed $100 billion placing itself at the third place behind Ripple and Bitcoin.

Wall Street benchmarks posted another records after a private ADP report showed subsequent solid employment numbers. Asian stocks followed their US peers marking another session of gains. European indices opened higher on the back of global optimism and the weaker euro against the US dollar.

The US dollar has been among worst performers during the Asian session as traders are awaiting the employment report for December. Consequently, the EURUSD is trading above 1.2070 while the USDJPY has resumed its upward trend. Nevertheless the Japanese yen and the Australian dollar have been the most beleaguered currencies over the course of the latest hours.

In today’s economic calendar we still have top-tier data from US and Canada ahead. In the first place figures concerning US and Canadian labour market will be released. Later on US ISM Non-Manufacturing and Canadian Ivey PMI prints will take the stage. This data combined may spur increased volatility on the USDCAD throughout the day.