The US Stock markets rose to record highs as Donald Trump’s first major legislative change win has been voted through the Senate. The changes will involve reducing the tax rate for the richest and cutting corporation tax from 35% to 20%. This has raised concerns with many suggesting there could be a shortfall in the budget next year of $1bn, with borrowing set to rocket.
Busy Week for US Data
Tomorrow for the US there will be Purchasing Managers Index data which indicates the confidence of executives in businesses. There is expected to be a slight improvement for the Services sector however Non-Manufacturing might show a slight decrease but still a high reading is expected. The end of the week will see the Non-farm Payrolls data and Unemployment Rate for November. This is one of the most significant data releases in the calendar with the result always causing volatility.
Last month the amount of new jobs created outside of the agricultural industry was 261,000. There is expected to be a decrease on Friday with the level falling closer to the 198,000 level. Only two months ago the release was negative following all the disruption that hurricanes caused on the South coast.
The GBP/USD exchange rate has been on the rise of late with the 1.35 level being broken earlier today. The gains for Sterling in the last few days have come from Brexit optimism as it appears there could be some form of agreement between the UK and the EU. Considering there is only speculation of an agreement, when there is actually an announcement there could be a major move.
In my opinion this suggests that as we move closer to the EU Summit meeting on the 14th and 15th of December the GBP/USD level will continue to rise. Holding on to get closer to that level could mean you might be able to trade nearer the 1.37/38 level, moreover if you’re looking to sell US Dollars it might be worth acting sooner rather than later.