The one flash of life was NFP as the markets hardly ticked beyond that this Good Friday. While most traders deservedly enjoyed a much longer weekend, today’s thin markets set the perfect stage for a US NFP miss. Very unexpected given the string of positive US data this week but also very much aligned with what Bernanke & Co. having been saying long after those minutes were recorded. The big miss leaves markets gobsmacked for traders’ return after Easter not far from their NFP-induced peaks.
- U.S. employment report (Reuters) [chart]
- NFP Big Miss: 120K, Expectations 205K, Unemployment 8.2%, “Not In Labor Force” At New All Time High (Zero Hedge)
- Londoners Pitch Tents for Olympic Fans as Hotels Fill Up (Bloomberg)
- Government’s Role in British Bank Creates Uneasy Alliance (New York Times)
- UK must sell RBS, Lloyds soon: taxpayer lobby (Reuters)
- Bitcoin, the City traders’ anarchic new toy (Reuters)