| Time | Country | Event | Period | Previous value | Forecast | Actual |
|---|
| 06:00 | Germany | Factory Orders s.a. (MoM) | February | -11.4% | 0.8% | 0.2% |
| 06:45 | France | Industrial Production, m/m | February | -1.1% | 0.5% | 0.2% |
| 08:30 | United Kingdom | PMI Construction | March | 49.7 | 50 | 50.2 |
| 09:00 | Eurozone | Retail Sales (MoM) | February | 0.0% | -0.4% | -0.5% |
USD firmed against most of its major rivals in the European session on Friday as investors prepared for the release of the key U.S. labour market statistics for March later in the day, which could impact the Federal Reserve’s rate path.
The U.S. Dollar Index (DXY), measuring the U.S. currency's value relative to a basket of foreign currencies, rose 0.12% from the previous close to 104.25.
The much-anticipated U.S. labour market data, set to be released at 12:30 GMT, are expected to show that employment continued to increase in March, albeit at a softer pace than in the previous month - by 200,000 versus 275,000 in February, while wage growth moderated to 4.1% YoY from 4.3% YoY in February.
If data comes stronger than forecast, this may convince the Fed’s policymakers to hold off on cutting interest rates as well as to reduce the number of cuts projected for this year. In their latest projections, the rate-setters indicated three rate decreases for 2024.
Meanwhile, market participants continued to weigh the latest comments from Minneapolis Fed president Kashkari, who suggested that the U.S. central bank might not cut rates this year if progress on inflation stalls.
In addition, the U.S. currency was supported by safe-haven demand amid rising geopolitical tensions in the Middle East related to potential retaliation by Iran against Israel.