US equity markets turned negative, at the close of the week, due to a better-than-expected Non-Farm Payroll report. US Unemployment remained steady at 4.1%, but NFP added 162,000, blowing out the expected figure of 21,000. This led to market speculation, that this may encourage the Federal Reserve to raise rates, as many have not realised Fed Chairman Warsh is a ‘Dove’. He is a believer in low rates and a high growth economy, as is President Trump, who called for rate cuts on Friday. The US Dollar was steady, with the EUR closing above 1.1600, while the GBP held 1.3500.The settled reserve allowed commodity currencies to bank recent gains, with the AUD closing above 0.7200, while the NZD trades 0.5880. This coming week will focus on global growth and inflation, with important GDP and CPI readings in Europe and the USA. The ECB will also meet to consider inflation and any rate rise, which is expected, to combat surging inflation.
