The pound received a mild, but nevertheless much-needed, lift following a better than forecast UK jobs report.
Including bonuses wage growth came in at 3.1%, beating estimates of 2.9%, with the previous month’s reading revised up to 3.3%. Strip away bonuses and the picture was even rosier, rising from 3.3% to 3.4% month-on-month. The unemployment rate, meanwhile, held at a 44-year low of 3.8%. The one blemish in the jobs report was an unexpected jump in the claimant count change, almost double what was forecast at 23.2k.
This allowed cable to flirt with a 0.3% increase, pushing it back to $1.272, while dragging the pound 0.2% higher against the euro, just about rescuing it from the morning’s fresh 5-month lows. It was, however, another fairly muted data-reaction from sterling, the currency stuck in Brexit purgatory while the Tory party tries to get its house in order.
Following on from a Trump-ignoring Asian session, the European markets remained in good spirits. A half a percent climb put the FTSE back above 7400, while the DAX managed to inch past 12200 for the first time in over 3 weeks thanks to a 160 point surge.
The Dow Jones should follow suit this afternoon. The futures have the index up 120 points when trading gets underway, leaving the Dow a smidge short of 26200 – not bad given it started the month at 24700.
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