Forex Today: Nonfarm Payrolls could mean an even more aggressive Fed

What you need to know on Friday, January 7:

The greenback retained most of its post-FOMC Minutes gains, despite US data being generally disappointing. Stocks maintained the sour tone, while US government bond yields held near the multi-month highs achieved on Wednesday.

The EUR/USD pair settled around 1.1290, at the lower end of its weekly range, while GBP/USD trades at around 1.3520. The AUD/USD pair edged lower, now trading in the 0.7160 area, undermined by gold prices, as the bright metal fell to end the day at $1,788 a troy ounce. The Canadian dollar, on the other hand, appreciated against the greenback, with USD/CAD trading in the 1.2720 region, as crude oil prices surged to fresh multi-month highs. The barrel of WTI peaked at $80.11, now trading at 79.70.

US Federal Reserve officials reinforced the idea of a more aggressive Fed. St. Louis Fed President James Bullard said that the Federal Reserve could raise interest rates as soon as March, while Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco President and FOMC member Mary Daly said that they will need to raise interest rates to keep the economy in balance.

The focus on Friday will be on the US December Nonfarm Payrolls report. The country is expected to have added 400K new jobs positions after gaining 210K in November. The unemployment rate is foreseen at 4.1%, down from 4.2% previously, although the under-employment rate is seen ticking higher, from 7.8% to 8%.

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