Watching and waiting -EUR/USD steps back from 1.0900

Earlier this morning the EUR/USD pressed a little and had a close look at the 1.09 handle for the first time this week, peaking at 1.0898. It has since drifted back towards 1.0875, as the wider markets tread water. Not that much has changed over the past couple of hours and the news flow has been generally light. Of course all these markets are waiting for the US monthly jobs report at 1.30pm GMT and briefly here is what is expected. US non-farm payrolls are expected to have risen by around 185k in January, after gaining by 216k in December. The unemployment rate is expected to have ticked up to 3.8%, from 3.7%. The rate of average earnings increases will be a key component too. Those are not expected to have risen at all last month. Of course there is room for a surprise in any of those data components and that is always a live prospect. Elsewhere, the DAX tested 17k today, reaching a high at exactly that level, but that too has edged back a little since. The EUR/USD is currently trading at 1.0879