The GBPUSD pair is in the green for a second straight day as investors react to the UK jobs data. According to the ONS, the unemployment rate in the UK remained unchanged at 3.9% in June. This was better than the 4.2% increase that analysts were expecting. The number of claimants increased by 94.4K in July, up from a decline of 28.8K in the previous month.
Focus now shifts to the GDP numbers that will be released tomorrow. Analysts polled by Reuters expect that the economy contracted by 20.5% in the second quarter. They also expect that the manufacturing and industrial production declined by 15% and 12% in June. The chart below shows that the GBPUSD pair has been in consolidation after hitting a high of 1.3900 on Thursday last week.
GBPUSD daily chart
DAX Index and FTSE 100 rise
European futures are in the green today. Futures tied to the DAX index and FTSE 100 are up0.40% and 0.70%. They are following in the footsteps of the US stocks, which ended in the green yesterday. The S&P 500 closed at a record high of $3,360 while the Dow Jones rose by 1.30%. The biggest catalyst in global stocks today is the likelihood of a deal between Democrats and Republicans about a stimulus deal. In a statement yesterday, Steve Mnuchin said that the two sides were likely to reach a deal this week. The chart below shows that the DAX index is in its third day of straight gains.
DAX index daily chart
Dollar index rises
The US dollar index is in the green today as traders react to the strong JOLTs jobs data released yesterday. The data showed that there were more than 5.8 million job openings on the final day of June. That was higher than the previous 5.8 million. The data came two days after the bureau released strong employment numbers that showed that the economy created more than 1.8 million jobs in July as the unemployment rate fell to 1.8%. The chart below shows that the DXY is attempting to crawl back above 94.0.
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US dollar index chart
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