Author: FX

Mid-tier U.S. data presented a nuanced picture of the economy, with the services sector maintaining steady growth while private sector job creation slowed to a crawl in January, prompting mixed movements in the U.S. dollar across major currency pairs. Key Takeaways ADP National Employment Report: Private sector employment increased by just 22,000 jobs in January Annual pay growth held at 4.5% year-over-year Job creation for full-year 2025 totaled 398,000, down significantly from 771,000 in 2024 Education and health services led with 74,000 new jobs Manufacturing continued its decline, shedding 8,000 jobs Professional and business services contracted by 57,000 positions Large…

With trade concerns weighing on business activity, markets are watching whether Canada’s January jobs data shows further softening and what that could mean for the BOC’s policy biases. Here’s what we’re watching heading into the release: This Article Is For Premium Members Only Become a Premium member for full website access, plus get: Ad-free experience Daily actionable short-term strategies High-impact economic event trading guides Unlimited Access access to MarketMilk™ Plus More! Source link

China’s central bank leaned on longer-dated liquidity tools to smooth funding conditions ahead of the Lunar New Year holiday.Summary:PBoC injected liquidity via both 7-day and 14-day reverse reposUse of 14-day RRs is unusual (not too unusual though!) and notableMove likely linked to upcoming Lunar New Year holiday cash demandSignals focus on smoothing funding conditions, not policy easingShort-term supportive for sentiment, neutral for CNY policy signalThe People’s Bank of China stepped up liquidity support on Thursday, injecting funds through a combination of standard 7-day reverse repos (at the usual 1.4%) and a less common 14-day operation (at 1.65%), a move that…

The QQE Mod indicator combines RSI smoothing with volatility-based trailing levels. At its core, it takes a standard RSI calculation and applies multiple smoothing passes using Wilder’s method. But here’s where it gets interesting: the indicator then creates dynamic bands around this smoothed RSI, similar to how Bollinger Bands work with price. These bands aren’t static. They expand during volatile sessions and contract when markets quiet down. When the smoothed RSI line crosses above the upper band, the indicator signals bullish momentum. A cross below the lower band suggests bearish pressure. The “Mod” version adds a histogram that shows the…

EUR/JPY has spent much of late January chopping sideways, frustrating both trend-followers and short-term traders as the price oscillated within a tightening range. That period of consolidation now appears to be giving way to renewed directional interest, with recent price action showing signs of stabilization and upward momentum. After a period of quiet, back-and-forth trading, the price has started to move more decisively. Short-term indicators have begun to turn, leading to a technical signal that many traders keep an eye on. Welcome to “TA Alert of the Day.” Each day after the market close, MarketMilk scans for popular technical indicator…

The USD/JPY pair extends the rally to around 156.85 during the early Asian session on Thursday. The Japanese Yen (JPY) weakens to a two-week low against the US Dollar (USD) amid concern over Japan’s fiscal health under Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi’s expansionary spending policy. Traders will closely monitor Japan’s snap elections scheduled for Sunday.Takaichi’s ruling Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) is expected to gain more seats in the national election as she seeks voter backing for increased spending, tax cuts, and a new security strategy. Her expansionary fiscal policies raise concerns about Japan’s fiscal outlook, due to fears of debt-funded spending, which drags…

Oil prices are falling after Iran’s foreign minister said talks will take place in Oman.That was followed by confirmation from Axios, which said that talks were put back on “after several Arab and Muslim leaders urgently lobbied the Trump administration on Wednesday afternoon not to follow through on threats to walk away,”A US official said they remain skeptical but will listen to Iran and that they were taking it to ‘be respectful’.Just three hours ago, the same Axios reporter put out news saying the talks were off. You have to wonder what’s going on here and if someone is playing…

Gold price retreats during the North American session on Wednesday, down more than 1% after reaching a three-day high of $5,091. A mixed market mood and modest US Dollar strength keep XAU/USD trading with losses at around $4,901 at the time of writing.XAU/USD pulls back from three-day highs as calmer geopolitics and resilient US data weigh on safe-haven demandThe yellow metal erased some of its earlier gains even though the latest round of US jobs data showed signs of weakness. At the same time, business activity in the services sector remained solid, yet showed mixed readings in the PMI’s sub-components…

AMD stock just posted blowout earnings but tanked 12% anyway. What’s going on? Advanced Micro Devices (NASDAQ: AMD) just gave us a perfect example of why earnings season can be so confusing for new traders. The chipmaker absolutely crushed expectations on Tuesday, February 3rd, reporting revenue of $10.27 billion versus estimates of $9.67 billion and earnings per share of $1.53 versus expectations of $1.32. That’s a massive beat on both fronts. So naturally, the stock dropped 12% the next day. This Article Is For Premium Members Only Become a Premium member for full website access, plus get: Ad-free…

Prior was +41K (revised to +37K)Goods +1K versus -3K last monthService +21K versus +44K last monthsmall business 0K vs +9K prior medium businesses +41K vs +34K last monthlarge businesses -18K vs +2K last monthWages for job stayers 4.5% vs 4.4% last monthWages for job changers 6.4% vs 6.6% last monthADP employmentSector changes. Education and health +74K vs +39K priorLeisure hospitality +4K vs +24K priorConstruction +9KFinancial activities +14K vs +6K priorProfessional business services -57K vs- 29K priorThat’s a grim breakdown with all kinds of white collar job losses and all the net employment going to government-adjacent fields.“Job creation took a step…