USD
The Dollar strengthened on Friday after the much anticipated nonfarm payroll
employment figure increased by 248,000 in September and the unemployment rate
declined to 5.9 percent. Employment increased in professional and business
services, retail trade and health care giving a welcome boost to the economy.
 
The report also showed that average hourly earnings were stagnant in September
from a month earlier, while the participation rate, which measures the number

USD
The Dollar strengthened on Friday after the much anticipated nonfarm payroll
employment figure increased by 248,000 in September and the unemployment rate
declined to 5.9 percent. Employment increased in professional and business
services, retail trade and health care giving a welcome boost to the economy.
 
The report also showed that average hourly earnings were stagnant in September
from a month earlier, while the participation rate, which measures the number
of Americans employed or looking for a job as a share of the working-age
population, decreased to 62.7 percent, the lowest since February 1978, from
62.8 percent a month before.

The Fed is also on track to end it’s bond-purchase program this month
designed to push down long-term borrowing costs and spur growth. Policy makers
meet next on policy October 29th.

EUR
Euro zone business grew at the slowest rate this year in September, reflecting
falling demand in the region where new orders were the weakest in almost a
year, surveys showed on Friday. Firms cut prices at a faster rate last month,
underscoring the difficulty the European Central Bank is likely to have in
bringing persistently low inflation back up, especially with weak demand for
goods and services in a stagnating economy.
 
Inflation remains at a five-year low of just 0.3 percent and the bloc’s economy
stagnated in the second quarter.
 
Markit’s Composite Purchasing Managers’ Index, which is based on surveys of
thousands of companies across the region and is seen as a good gauge of growth,
fell to a ten-month low of 52.0, well below August’s 52.5.
 
That final reading was also weaker than a preliminary estimate of 52.3,
although it was the 15th month above the 50 line that denotes growth.

GBP
Rapid growth in Britain’s services sector eased slightly in September and a
broader measure of private-sector expansion fell to a six-month low, a major
business survey showed on Friday, raising the prospect of an end-of-year
slowdown. The Markit/CIPS services purchasing managers’ index (PMI) dropped to
a three-month low of 58.7 in September from August’s nine-month high of 60.5,
falling slightly more than economists had forecast. The index is still well
above historic averages and the 50-mark that separates growth from contraction

Key Announcements
7:00am – BST – EUR   German Factory Orders m/m   -2.4%
4.6% 
9:10am – BST – EUR  Retail PMI    45.8 
9:30am – BST – EUR   Sentix Investor Confidence   -11.8
-9.8 
9:30am – BST – GBP   Housing Equity Withdrawal q/q
  -11.3B -12.2B

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