What To Look Out For Today

Binary options traders can look forward to another exciting day with lots of market volatility. The PPI is to be released in Europe in the early part of the day. Keep a close eye out for the German unemployment numbers which are anticipated to show a rise. Then later on US jobless claims to be announced- to show expected increase. This could put pressure on the dollar, even more so if Eurozone figures don’t disappoint.

GBP/USD

The GBP moved higher against the USD today after the FED reaffirmed its commitment to its easing programme. The GBPUSD touched 1.5836 during morning trading on Thursday which marked a gain of 0.20%. However the market sentiment on the USD stayed weak after the outcome of the Fed’s policy meeting guaranteeing a continuation of the $85 billion a month easing programme based on the outcome of the employment market.

Central Bank

The Central Bank also stated that it would hold interest rates close to 0 until unemployment could sustain itself below 6.5per cent.

GDP Q4

Wednesday s GDP announcement also surprised the market by showing that the economy had fallen by 0.1 per cent in Q4. Sentiment was that growth could be expected of 1.1per cent after the previous quarter which showed 3.1per cent growth.

The negative data coming out of UK including GDP shrinkage of 0.3per cent reaffirmed the curbed demand for the GBP. This aligns the UK with the possibility of a triple-dip recession.

EUR

Meanwhile the EUR softened against the GBP with the EURGBP down to 0.8563 a fall of 0.26 per cent.

Economic Data

Unemployment in Europe fell by 16,000 job in Jan which doubled expectations of 8000 jobs. This went against the German retail sales which fell by 1,7per cent in Dec, the biggest drop in over 3 years. US is to release weekly Government report of jobless claims later today.

Crude Oil

Crude oil futures failed to extend a recent rally yesterday as traders showed concern of the US economy. Oil investors tend to focus on unemployment readings as this shows the overall state of an economies health. Now that the Fed meeting is behind them oil investors will keep their focus on the nonfarm employment rate which is due on Friday. China which is the second largest global consumer of oil and the second largest world economy is to announce its manufacturing data for Jan on Friday.

Facebook

Facebook showed a sharp fall in profits only $64 million in the last 3 months of 2012 compared to $302 million the year before. This affected the share price by a 6 per cent fall in NY trading. The profit drop came as a result of increased spending in R&D.