Another big day ahead for markets with all eyes on crucial US employment figures released later tonight.

The EUR/USD remains shaky, but still managed to claw back some of its recent losses. It opened the session at $1.16670 and added some small gains until it reached a high of $1.17240. It was not able to hold onto those highs for very long, falling to lows of $1.16395 a few hours later. However, it was able to regain some of those losses and in early morning trading it sits at $1.16927. The GBP/USD looked set for a strong session after opening at $1.32822. It climbed well into $1.33 territory, where it peaked at $1.33470. It gave up just about all of those gains, currently trading at $1.32866.

The Dow fell back into bad habits, plunging around 350 points from its high of 24,696.85. The Dow eventually bottomed-out at 24,345.72. It was able to regain some of those losses and it is looking positive in early trading, currently sitting at 24,4473.50. The Dax was once again weighed down by the Dow, reflected by the fact that the Dax reached session highs of 12,805.10 in the first hour of trade. It was mainly downhill from there however as the Dax tumbled to lows of 12,537.80. It fought back from those lows to close around 100 points higher.

The day ahead is a busy one, but one that can bring some volatility. The market focus today is on the all-important US Non-Farm Employment Change, Average Hourly Earnings and Unemployment figures. These pieces of data give us the best indication of the strength of employment and wage growth in the US economy. These figures help form the basis from which the US Fed Reserve makes decisions on monetary policy. Other data set for release today includes:

China – Caixin Manufacturing PMI

Australia – Commodity Prices, HIA New Home Sales

UK – Manufacturing PMI

Canada – Manufacturing PMI

Europe – European, German & French Final Manufacturing PMIs, Italian, Spanish Manufacturing & Swiss PMIs

US – Final Manufacturing PMI, ISM Manufacturing PMI, Construction Spending, ISM Manufacturing Prices, Total Vehicle Sales

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