The post Pound Sterling consolidates as US NFP, Manufacturing PMI take center stage appeared on BitcoinEthereumNews.com.

The Pound Sterling trades muted against the US Dollar ahead of key US data on the horizon. US NFP and the Manufacturing PMIs could influence the Fed interest rate path. The BoE is expected to cut interest rates only once in the remaining two meetings this year. The Pound Sterling (GBP) ties in a tight range near 1.2900 against the US Dollar (USD) in Friday’s London session. The GBP/USD pair consolidates as investors await the United States (US) Nonfarm Payrolls (NFP) data for October, which will be published at 12:30 GMT. The official labor market data will influence market expectations for the Federal Reserve (Fed) interest rate path for the remainder of the year. The NFP report is expected to show that the economy added 113K new workers, less than half of 254K jobs created in September. Economists expect the Unemployment Rate to remain steady at 4.1%. Consensus for the NFP data appears to be diverging when compared with Wednesday’s ADP Employment Change data, which showed that 233K new workers were hired by the private sector in October and pointed to an improvement in labor market conditions. Also, Initial Jobless Claims data for the week ending October 25 fell to 216K against estimates of 230K, the lowest level in almost 22 weeks. Signs of improving labor demand would diminish the risks of an economic downturn and would allow the Fed to follow a more gradual rate-cut path. According to the CME FedWatch tool, the central bank is expected to cut interest rates by 25 basis points (bps) in both policy meetings in November and December. In Friday’s North American session, investors will also focus on the Average Hourly Earnings and the ISM Manufacturing PMI data for October. Average Hourly Earnings, a key measure of wage growth, is estimated to have…

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Filed under: News - @ November 1, 2024 8:25 am