POUND STERLING STEADIES NEAR 1.3200 AHEAD OF US NFP

The Pound Sterling refreshes a five-day high near 1.3200 against the US Dollar with US NFP in focus.

Weak US JOLTS Job openings and ADP Employment Change suggest US labor market conditions are weakening.

The BoE is expected to cut interest rates only once in the remainder of the year.

The Pound Sterling (GBP) eases slightly after posting a fresh five-day high near the round-level resistance of 1.3200 in Friday’s European session. The GBP/USD pair broadly consolidates against the US Dollar (USD) ahead of the United States (US) Nonfarm Payrolls (NFP) data for August, which will be published at 12:30 GMT.

The US Dollar Index (DXY), which tracks the Greenback’s value against six major currencies, declines slightly below the crucial support of 101.00. 

Economists estimate that US employers hired 160K new workers in August, higher than the 114K increase seen in July. In the same period, the Unemployment Rate is expected to have declined to 4.2% from the former release of 4.3%. Investors will also focus on the Average Hourly Earnings data, a key measure of wage growth that fuels consumer spending and price pressures. Annually, the wage growth measure is estimated to have increased by 3.7%, accelerating slightly from the prior reading of 3.6%. On the month, Average Hourly Earnings data are forecasted to have grown by 0.3%, faster than the 0.2% advance in July.

The US official employment data will shape the Federal Reserve’s (Fed) monetary policy decision this month. The importance of the job data has increased significantly as the Fed said it is more focused on the labor market health given that inflation is on track to return to the bank’s target of 2%.