During the June meeting, the majority of Federal Reserve officials hinted at further tightening of monetary policy, albeit at a slower pace compared to the rapid rate increases witnessed since early 2022.
The minutes released on Wednesday revealed that policymakers opted against an immediate rate rise due to concerns about economic growth. However, they acknowledged the likelihood of future hikes and emphasized the importance of a brief pause to evaluate the impacts of the previous increases.
The minutes also highlighted some differences of opinion among committee members.
Contrary to expectations, the US labor market remained robust in June, with companies creating a significantly higher number of jobs than anticipated. Payroll processing firm ADP reported a surge of 497,000 private sector jobs for the month, surpassing the downwardly revised May gain of 267,000 and surpassing the consensus estimate of 220,000 from Dow Jones. This marked the largest monthly rise since July 2022.
Thursday’s data further revealed that private payrolls surged while the number of Americans filing new claims for unemployment benefits experienced a moderate increase. These findings suggest that the labor market continues to exhibit stability.
On Friday, the US Bureau of Labor Statistics reported that nonfarm payrolls in the US rose by 209,000 in June, slightly below market expectations of 225,000. The unemployment rate remained at 3.6%, in line with forecasts. Average Hourly Earnings also showed a 0.4% increase, with the previous month’s figure revised upward to 0.4% as well.
This announcement placed renewed selling pressure on the US Dollar (USD).
Concurrently, the British Pound (GBP) reached a two-week high of $1.2780 as market participants speculated that the Bank of England would raise interest rates to 6.5% early next year, surpassing the previously projected peak of 6.25%.
Amidst recent US jobs data and hawkish comments from Federal Reserve policymakers, gold prices were poised for a fourth consecutive weekly loss. These developments strengthened expectations for higher and more prolonged interest rates.
Please remember to close the exposure in the directly associated pair to the news event. The exposure must be cleared 1 hour before the event and the position can be opened again from 30 min after the data has been released, in case of a speech positions can be reopened after the speech is over.
WEDNESDAY, JULY 12
13:30 PM BST USD Consumer Price Index
FRIDAY, JULY 13
07:00 AM BST GBP Gross Domestic Product
Ability Challenge is a cutting-edge program designed for traders who are looking to get funded with us through a 2-step evaluation on a demo account. This is a opportunity to showcase your trading abilities in a less restricted and more dynamic environment.
Not only do you have the chance to demonstrate your proficiency, but you can take home a generous profit share of 75% on a monthly basis on the live stage. This is an ideal route to achieving success on a larger scale. So take the challenge and unlock your trading potential today!
The Hidden Talents Program is developed to help guide and nurture curiosity into trading through an intensive one-to-one training with our fully qualified trading mentor. The program is not based upon previous experience or academic qualifications, but on the natural intellect and willingness to become a profitable trader.
With a careful selection process, the Hidden Talents Program is designed to help identify, recruit and develop the next generation of raw talent, who are eager to demonstrate their capability in investing and trading the financial markets.
If you have a profitable strategy and good money management you can prove your trading ability, starting the challenge according to the account size you’re comfortable trading with.
To start the challenge, choose the account size you’re comfortable trading with and proceed to the checkout, as soon as we receive your payment you’ll get an email with the login details and you can start trading.
You now have two options. You can either continue managing the account size you signed in for and share profits 75-25 on a monthly basis or you can request to move onto the Funded Trader Program starting with the account size you passed the challenge on. (Note that if you move to the FTP you’ll need to respect its rules, parameters and premium account fees.)
Yes, you can trade news events in the two phases of the challenge.
On ability, you can trade Forex and certain Commodities and Indices which are as follows: XAUUSD, GER30, US30, US500 and NAS100.
On the Ability program, you can withdraw your share of profits on a monthly basis
Traders will need to demonstrate consistency within their results in regards to trade length and lot size in order to pass the 7 minimum trading days. For example if a trader opens one position at 15 lots on one day, then 6 positions at 0.1 lot on 6 other trading days, this will result in failing the Ability Challenge. The aim of the Ability Challenge is to demonstrate consistency that can later be applied to a live account and not to reward a gambling mentality and style of trading. Please see our T&C’s regarding this clause.
Breaking one of the rules will automatically invalidate the account and remove you from the challenge. You will receive an email informing you of the specific rule breach. You can also monitor your account progress within the traders dashboard.
You can process payment via Credit/Debit card, Paypal, Bank Transfer, Open Banking and Coinbase.
As soon as we receive the payment you’ll receive your login details automatically via email.
The fees will cover some of the trading and business costs and will also hold the traders accountable although they are operating on a demo account, simulating real-life trading conditions.
You’re entitled to a refund after passing the two phases challenge when you become an Audacity Trader. Your refund will be processed together with your first payout.
We do not work with a retail broker. Even on the two phases challenge you’ll be working with a demo account which is a retail version linked to our Liquidity Provider
You can hold positions overnight and over the weekend during the two phases of the challenge.
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