With the FED tight lipped about the interest rate hike, market has started looking to the economic data for possible clues to what is happening to USD. US economic data has been good in the last few months, making USD bullish. Today is NFP Release day. USD is taking a breather and expected to gain more on better than expected jobs data which has been above 200K for the last few months in a row. The U.S. dollar edged higher against a basket of major currencies on Thursday to notch its strongest monthly gain in over a year after U.S. labor market data fueled expectations for a more hawkish Federal Reserve.
Analysts at BNP Paribas expect payrolls to increase by 225,000. “Data in line with our forecasts should leave markets focused on the possibility that the Fed begins tightening policy in the first half of 2015 rather than waiting to Q3, keeping US front-end rates and the USD supported,” they wrote in a note to clients.