Dollar set for a weekly loss; non-farm payrolls loom

The US dollar

The USD is set for a weekly loss, putting an end to a six-week rally. The greenback's decline really kicked off with the release of JOLT's job openings data on Tuesday, which was much weaker than expected and confirmed by softer Automatic Data Processing (ADP) employment change data on Wednesday and Challenger job cuts on Thursday.

This Friday, economists expect this trend to be confirmed by non-farm payroll data. They expect 170,000 job creations in August, after 187,000 in July. The unemployment rate is forecast to stay at 3.5%.

The Yuan

Earlier on Friday, the CNY jumped to a three-week high against the dollar before paring gains. There was a bit of excitement on the market after the Caixin Manufacturing Purchasing Managers' Index (PMI) unexpectedly rose above 50. The index rose to 51 in August from 49.2 the previous month, beating market estimates of 49.3.

This was the strongest pace of expansion in factory activity since February, contrasting with NBS manufacturing PMI data released earlier this week that showed a fifth straight month of contraction. Manufacturing data is also expected in the US. The ISM is forecast to remain in contraction territory for the tenth straight month.

US house price index

In the US, the nationwide house price index fell more than expected in August, by 0.8% month-over-month (MoM), against expectations of a 0.3% fall. year-on-year (YoY), the index fell 5.3%. Expectations were for a fall of 3.9%.

Tesla

Tesla has slashed the prices of its premium Model S and X cars in China just hours after unveiling a refreshed version of its mass-market family saloon, the Model 3. The US automaker marked down the price of its basic Model S by 14% to 698,900 yuan ($96,200) and its entry-level Model X sport utility vehicle by about 18% to 738,000 yuan, or $101,600. This is according to its official website.

Dell Technologies

Investors will keep an eye on Dell Technologies shares when trading opens on Friday in the US. Dell is another group that seems to have turned the difficult corner that hit the sector. Earnings came in at $1.74 per share, easily beating analysts' expectations of $1.14. Revenue was also better than expected, reaching $22.90 billion.

Dell's servers and networking division performed well in the April-June quarter, rising 11% to $4.27 billion driven by higher demand for Al-optimised servers. Dell is optimistic about its future. It sees this trend continuing as it expects big tech companies investments to rise. Dell now sees third-quarter revenue between $22.5 billion and $23.5 billion, higher than analysts' estimates of $21.67 billion.

Broadcom

Another tech stock released quarterly earnings on Friday. evening. Broadcom marginally beat earnings and revenue expectations in the fiscal third quarter, but the stock fell 3.4% in after-hours trading after forecasting fourth-quarter revenue below Wall Street estimates. Broadcom expects current-quarter revenue to be about $9.27 billion. Broadcom's share hit a new all-time high during yesterday's session, having more than doubled in the past 12 months.

WTI and Brent

WTI and Brent are set to record weekly gains after two weeks of losses. Thursday was another strong session for oil prices. WTI gained another $2 on Thursday. A Reuters survey of 37 oil analysts and economists shows that they expect the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) to keep supply tight and have raised their 2023 oil price forecast. Brent is expected to average $82.45 this year. So far in 2023, it has averaged $80.60.