It was a busy day for the markets on Thursday. The U.S. dollar gave up the gains from the previous day leading to the Euro and the pound sterling posting activity on the day. The British pound was volatile after initial reports from Bloomberg showed that Germany was willing to make concessions for the UK under the Brexit deal.
However, reports later indicated that Germany did not change its stance. However, the sterling managed to maintain the gains. Services PMI from the UK showed a better than expected print as activity measured by the index rose to 54.3 in August.
The Bank of Canada held its monetary policy meeting. As widely expected, the central bank left interest rates unchanged in the backdrop of U.S. and Canada NAFTA negotiations. The BoC, however, reiterated that rate hikes would be required to prevent the economy from overheating.
The economic calendar for the day will see the release of the quarterly GDP report from Switzerland. GDP growth is forecast to rise 0.5% during the second quarter. Data from the Eurozone is quiet today with the focus shifting to the U.S. ADP payrolls report.
The median estimates point to a 195k forecast for private payrolls which is slightly lower than the 219k jobs seen the month before. The ISM’s non-manufacturing PMI report is expected to rise to 56.8 marking a slight increase from 55.7.
Other data includes the factory orders report and Canada’s building permits.
