Friday 1 June 2012

Daily Forex Brief London: Friday 1st June 2012


It's gearing up to be a busy Friday. We've already had manufacturing PMI data in China coming in softer than expected, falling to 50.4 (from 53.3). In Europe, markets are understandably nervous, the euro once again having traded at a new low for the year as Asia (at 1.2324), whilst Spain has denied speculation that it is talking to the IMF about possible aid. Meanwhile, there were some fairly critical words for European leaders from the head of the ECB yesterday, saying that it was not the ECB's job to "fill the vacuum left by the lack of action by national governments". The results from the Irish referendum on the fiscal compact are also expected today and whilst a 'yes' vote is pretty much assured, history is scattered with surprise referendum decisions in Europe. Not for the first time, markets will be looking to the US to provide some good news, with the April employment report released this afternoon. Hopes are for a modest recovery from the 115k increase seen in April, the 150k expected gain would take payrolls back to the average of the past 6 months. Meanwhile, yields on German 2 year bonds have touched negative territory this morning, an illustration of the ever more dis-jointed markets we are seeing.

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