GBP

British Prime Minister Theresa May wrote to Brussels on Friday asking for a delay of Brexit until up till June 30, while saying she aims to get Britain out of the EU earlier to avoid participating in European elections. However Donald Tusk has proposed a longer Brexit, any extension would still require unanimous approval of the other 27 EU countries and some such as France, suggested they wanted a better justification from the UK for this request.

USD

US Job creation posted a solid rebound in March, with non-farm payrolls expanding by 196,000 and the unemployment rate holding steady at 3.8%, the Bureau of Labor Statistics reported on Friday. However, wage growth slowed to 3.2 per cent in March compared to a year earlier after growing 3.4 per cent in February. The non-farm payroll figure was better than the 175,000 estimate and comes after a dismal February that had economists wondering whether the decade-old economic expansion was nearing its end. Job gains were broad based with health care leading with 49,000 new workers, professional and technical services added 34,000 and food and drinking establishments contributed 27,000. Construction rose by 16,000 but manufacturing saw 6,000 jobs lost.

Following the positive jobs figure President Donald Trump said Friday on the U.S. economy would climb like “a rocket ship” if the Federal Reserve cut interest rates and the Fed “really slowed us down” in terms of economic growth.

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