Market News

The Non-Farm Payroll numbers reported on Friday showed a growth of 215,000 workers over the last month following a gain of 245,000 in February.

Non-farm payroll numbers are due out today and they should meet Fed expectations.

The US Dollar’s slide has finally subsided after hitting a 7-week trough versus the common currency Euro.

Despite gains throughout the month, gold slid Wednesday, wiping out this month’s gains as hints of a stronger U.S. labor market and a rally in equities curbed demand for safe haven assets.

The US Dollar was the trading day’s biggest loser in the wake of a surprisingly dovish Fed chairman. Expectations of a 2016 rate hike have been devastated and the US Dollar Index lost more than 1%.

Asian markets advanced on Wednesday, following gains in U.S. equities overnight after Federal Reserve chair Janet Yellen told markets that the Fed would move ‘cautiously’ in a scheduled speech to the Economic Club of New York on Tuesday.

The outlook for another interest rate hike remained unclear following the speech by Federal Reserve Chairwoman Janet Yellen to the Economic Club in New York Tuesday, her first press conference after the Fed held rates steady two weeks ago.

Even as the Dollar is finding some support from the Federal Reserve, the Japanese Yen has been underperforming on speculation of yet another move from the Japanese government.

The dollar kept losses to a minimum Monday following its first drop in seven days. Conflicting reports on the future of U.S. interest rates helped European equity-index futures increase while stocks in Asia dropped.

In a quiet trading session given that many of the globe’s financial markets are closed today, it will likely be data which drives the currency pairs.

The dollar edged up against the euro and yen on Monday continuing its rebound last week following hints from U.S. Federal Reserve officials that an interest rate hike could be introduced sooner than anticipated.

It probably will not be as quiet this week as it was last week, but we still have a very thin data schedule with no central bank input. Therefore volatility is likely to be relatively low but will probably pick up quite a lot at the end of the week. Get the economic and political timeline for the week of March 28, 2016 here.

Not much financial news came in over the weekend with major holidays worldwide but economists look forward to the coming week for the release of several interesting economic reports which could help U.S. stocks resume their recent winning path.

Oil prices were down slightly on Thursday, posting their first weekly loss in over a month, under pressure from record high U.S. stockpiles, a strong dollar and weakening equity markets.

For a 5th straight day, the US Dollar Index edged higher, moving toward a record for best string of gains in nearly a year.