020 7898 0500Positivity continued to surround the US dollar on Friday, as it strengthened thanks to the comments made by US Federal Reserve members that suggested interest rates could still be raised in the near future – in spite of the Chinese slowdown. Banks also upgraded their US growth figures for the third quarter of 2015, following the better-than-expected figure last week.
Last Friday’s data releases showed Personal Income growing in line with expectations, providing a key indication that the US economy is on track for a possible interest rate rise early next year. However, personal spending data was reported as worse than expected, which could help to delay a potential rate hike.
This week we will see the release of Manufacturing Purchasing Managers’ Index (PMI) on Tuesday, and continued growth is expected. The focus of the week will be on the non-farm employment figure, released on Friday, with numerous figures released leading up to this data release. The expectation is a stable figure in line with last month’s; if the figure is as expected – or higher – it could provide a spark to conversations about the possibility of an imminent interest rate hike by the Federal Reserve.
