The British pound is stronger
The British pound is stronger again - despite some weaker data.
The currency is up by 0.6% at 1.2980 against the dollar as of 7:22 a.m. ET.
Earlier on Friday, the latest survey from market research firm Gfk showed that UK consumer confidence fell at its fastest rate in 22 years following the Brexit vote.
Separately, the Office for National Statistics announced that the UK's goods trade deficit widened to £9.88 billion from £9.41 billion in April.
And as an interesting tidbit, the next UK prime minister will be the first woman to hold the position since Margaret Thatcher.
As for the rest of the world, here's the scoreboard:
- The US dollar index is weaker by 0.2% at 96.12 ahead of June's Jobs report - "the most important NFP of the year." Economists expect that nonfarm payrolls came in at +180,000, the unemployment rate will come in at 4.8%, and that average hourly earnings month-over-month rose by 0.2%. The data crosses the wires at 8:30 a.m. ET.
- The Canadian dollar is little changed ahead of Canada's jobs report, which will also cross the wires at 8:30 a.m. ET. Economists expect that the economy added +5,000 jobs in June, and that the unemployment rate ticked up slightly to 7.0%.
- The euro is little changed at 1.1066 against the dollar. Earlier in the day, Germany's May trade came in, with exports falling 1.8% month-over-month, below expectations of a 0.3% increase, and imports rose only 0.1%, below expectations of 0.4%.
- The Japanese yen is stronger by 0.4% at 100.41 per dollar.