• Major currencies subdued awaiting US jobs report
• ECB’s Villeroy: Our options are open at the next and upcoming rate meetings
• ECB’s Vujčić: We won’t know in Sept, October or even November where the terminal rate is
• BOE’s Pill: We have not seen a downturn in core inflation which would reassure us
• RBA to keep cash rate unchanged next week – poll
• China reportedly to take more action in order to try and revive property sector
• Eurozone August final manufacturing PMI 43.5 vs 43.7 prelim
• UK August final manufacturing PMI 43.0 vs 42.5 prelim
• UK August Nationwide house prices -0.8% vs -0.2% m/m prior
• Switzerland August CPI +1.6% vs +1.5% y/y expected
• Italy Q2 final GDP -0.4% vs -0.3% q/q prelim

Markets:

• JPY leads, AUD lags on the day
• European equities higher; S&P 500 futures up 0.4%
• US 10-year yields up 0.6 bps to 4.096%
• Gold up 0.2% to $1,943.79
• WTI crude up 1.1% to $84.53
• Bitcoin up 0.1% to $26,050

It was a quiet session for FX as traders are waiting on the US non-farm payrolls later today before firming up their convictions.

The dollar is steady across the board as narrow ranges prevailed during the session and in general, is trading little changed across the board now. The bond market was also in a similar mood, with traders keeping their attention on the jobs report to come.

Equities did nudge a little higher though, gradually advancing during the session. However, I’d argue the gains are tentative as investors are holding out some hopeful optimism – which may end up being dashed by the key risk event later today.

In terms of data, we got manufacturing PMIs which just solidified the notion that factory activity in the euro area continues to be stuck in a rut. And that downturn isn’t improving well enough to suggest a change in the worsening outlook ahead of Q4.

Welp. Now over to the much awaited non-farm payrolls data before the long weekend in the US.

This article was written by Justin Low at www.forexlive.com.