GLOBAL MANUFACTURING AND U.S JOBS DATA RELEASED IN A BUSY START TO 2018

BUSY START TO 2018

Despite financial markets being closed for New Year's Day on Monday, the first trading week of 2018 still promises a flurry of high-impacting economic data releases. Traders and investors will process key December Manufacturing data from the Chinese, eurozone, United Kingdom and United States economies from Tuesday onwards. We also see December Unemployment figures from the German economy, and the previous months CPI figures for the eurozone trading block.

The main event for financial market comes on Friday, as the American economy releases the December Non-Farm Payrolls job report. Economists expect that the U.S economy created 189,000 in the last month of 2017, whilst the overall U.S unemployment is expected to stay at a record-low 4.10 percent.

Monday 1st January, New Year's Day Holiday

Financial markets and banks across the globe are closed due to New Year's Day.

Tuesday 2nd January, Chinese Manufacturing PMI

The Chinese economy releases the countries Manufacturing PMI for the month of December. Most analysts expect that Chinese manufacturing activity slowed down during the month of December, coming in slightly weaker than the November figure, with a 50.6 reading.

When the Purchase Managers Index reading is below 50.0, it indicates that the manufacturing economy is declining, while a value above 50.0 indicates an expansion of the manufacturing economy.

• The AUDUSD pair is increasingly bullish above the 0.7750 level, further upside towards 0.7835 and 0.7882 remains likely.

• Should the AUDUSD pair decline below the 0.7750 level, key weekly support is found at 0.7735 and 0.7715.

Wednesday 3rd January, U.S ISM Manufacturing PMI

The U.S Institute of Supply Management Manufacturing Purchasing Managers Index is expected to remain at multi-year records levels for the month of December.

The report is based on data compiled from monthly replies to questions asked of purchasing and supply executives in over 400 industrial companies. Each of the indicators measured is based on New Orders, Backlog of Orders, New Export Orders, Imports, Production, Supplier Deliveries, Inventories, Customers Inventories, Employment, and Prices.

Thursday 4th January, UK PMI Services PMI

The United Kingdom's Services Purchasing Managers Index is expected in at 54.1 for the month of December, which marks an improvement from November's reading. The Services PMI measures the activity level of purchasing managers in the UK's services sector. Traders watch these surveys closely as purchasing managers usually have early access to data about their company’s performance, which can be a leading indicator of overall economic performance.

• The GBPUSD pair remains strongly bullish while trading above the 1.3440 level, further upside towards 1.3550 and 1.3610 remains likely.

• Should the GBPUSD pair decline below the 1.3440 level, weekly technical support is found at the 1.3400 and 1.3360 levels.

Friday 5th January, U.S Non-Farm Payrolls Jobs Report

The U.S Nonfarm Payrolls jobs report measures the change in the number of people employed during the previous month, excluding the farming industry. Job creation is the foremost indicator of U.S consumer spending, which accounts for the majority of economic activity.

A higher than expected reading should be taken as bullish for the U.S dollar, although financial markets increasingly look to the wage increase component inside the survey, as U.S inflation remains low.