Today the economic calendar is relatively well-loaded. The biggest release today will be the United States unemployment rate for December, as well as the non-farm payrolls for the same month. Canada will also be releasing its unemployment data for the previous month today, but the markets will likely be more impacted by reports that have to do with the USD. No change is expected in the US unemployment rate; if the reading shows that it’s increased in December, expect the dollar to drop.
Moreover, if you are interested in trading crude oil, today there will be several oil rig count reports. Oil increased in price earlier this week as investors feared the US-Iran conflict might disrupt activities in the region, but the tension has since calmed, and those fears have dissipated. Plus, the surprising increase in US oil production last week has put serious pressure on crude oil prices, which makes today’s reports that much more significant.
In other news, stocks and equities have rallied on the expectations that first, the United States and Iran will not engage in any more attacks against each other, and secondly, that the US and China will finally sign the phase-one trade deal next week.
One of the few losers on the stock market is aircraft manufacturer Boeing, whose value dropped once again after one of its planes crashed in Ukraine this week, killing the almost 200 passengers on board. Though some speculate the plane was not at fault in this instance, Boeing has had other recent troubles with planes crashing over the past two years.
