Forex Today: Market attention turns to US October employment data

Here is what you need to know on Friday, November 1:

The US Dollar (USD) stays resilient against its rivals early Friday, with the USD Index holding steady near 104.00 following a three-day slide. The US Bureau of Labor Statistics will publish the labor market report for October, which will include Nonfarm Payrolls, Unemployment Rate and wage inflation figures. Later in the day, the US economic calendar will also feature ISM Manufacturing PMI data for October.

The USD struggled to find demand following mixed macroeconomic data releases on Thursday. The Initial Jobless Claims declined by 12,000 to 216,000 for the week ending October 26, while the Employment Cost Index rose by 0.8% in the third quarter, falling short of the market expectation of 0.9%. The risk-averse market atmosphere, however, helped the USD find a foothold later in the American session. In the European morning on Friday, US stock index futures trade in positive territory, pointing to an improving market mood. In October, Nonfarm Payrolls are forecast to rise by 113,000 following the impressive 254,000 increase recorded in September.

During the Asian trading hours on Friday, the data from China showed that the Caixin Manufacturing PMI rose to 50.3 in October from 49.3 in September. This reading came in better than the market expectation of 49.7. In the meantime, the Producer Price Index in Australia rose 0.9% on a quarterly basis in the third quarter, at a stronger pace than analysts' estimate of 0.7%. AUD/USD showed no reaction to these data releases and was last seen trading in the red, slightly above 0.6550.

USD/CHF lost about 0.4% on Thursday and touched its lowest level in two weeks near 0.8630. The pair recovers slightly in the European morning on Friday and trades at around 0.8650. October Consumer Price Index (CPI) data from Switzerland will be published during the European trading hours.

USD/JPY declined sharply on Thursday and dropped below 152.00, pressured by hawkish comments from Bank of Japan (BoJ) Governor Kazuo Ueda. The pair stages a rebound on Friday and trades above 152.50.

EUR/USD extended its recovery and closed the fourth consecutive day in positive territory on Thursday. The pair struggles to build on its weekly gains and fluctuates below 1.0900 in the European morning. 

GBP/USD failed to benefit from the persistent USD weakness and fell to its lowest level since mid-August below 1.2850 on Thursday. Although the pair managed to erase a small portion of its daily losses, it lost its traction after testing 1.2900. At the time of press, GBP/USD was moving up and down in a narrow band near 1.2890.

Gold made a deep correction from the record-high it set at $2,790 and lost more than 1.5% on Thursday. XAU/USD clings to small daily gains and trades above $2,750 to begin the European session.