07:15am   As it is Non Farm Payrolls Day I will not be trading today although I shall be in front of my screens this morning compiling trade alerts for my Triangle and Trend Alert Service.

Market Update:

Main news in the markets today is the monthly U.S. jobs report and the numbers are released in around 6 hours time with expectations of a rise of around 175,000 jobs, slightly down on November’s figures. U.S. equity markets did reach new highs during December but since the middle of the month there has been a reluctance to rise further and this is partly down to concerns over Trumps first moves when he become President in 2-weeks time. You can expect some volatility during today’s European/U.S. trading session after a quiet start and traders will be watching to see if December’s highs are broken this afternoon once the jobs numbers are released – if this does occur, you can expect the S&P-500 to start moving towards the 2300 level (currently 2267.12)

The overnight Asian trading session ended mainly down with Chinese equity markets subjected to some profit taking ahead of tomorrow’s report on Chinese Foreign Exchange Reserves for 2016 – many commentators believe the Chinese government has burned through a disproportionate amount of Dollars in support of the Yuan.

Gold was also subject to some profit taking earlier today as investors await the Non Farm Payrolls numbers which will give a clue to the Federal Reserve’s timetable for rate rises this year – the yellow metal reached a 21-day high of $1184.81 yesterday but is now trading down at $1173.95 as traders adjust their positions before the U.S. jobs numbers come out.