Non Farm Payrolls beat expectations and showed the job market shed only 36,000 jobs for the month of February!

•  On Friday's trading session we saw the release of the monthly Nonfarm payrolls report. The report showed that the US shed 36K jobs for the month of February. The report beat expectations of -60K. The market indeed did anticipate a worse number due to the severe weather conditions faced by the US work force. So overall the -36K print was interpreted as an extremely positive number indicating eventual job recovery. We also had consumer credit figures released on Friday which saw credit expand by $5bln.
•  In Japan the BoJ have reportedly extended the 0.1% 3month lending facility by increasing the size beyond the JPY10trn limitation. This indicates the BoJ concerns over recent JPY appreciation and although not quite QE it is a move towards further monetary easing and a period of prolonged zero rate policy. Following the positive NFP news in the US and further easing in Japan the star performing pair on Friday was the USDJPY rallying to highs of 90.50 after hitting lows of 88.20 on the day.
•  In Europe we saw Greek Prime Minister Papandreou meet both with Sarkozy and Angela Merkel on separate occasions. Sarkozy said that they cannot allow the Euro to fail and will thus help Greece if needed, however Germany's Merkel did not make any commitments to Greece and said that Greece has not asked for financial aid yet. The new austerity plans were all approved by Greek parliament despite fierce opposition from the labor unions. EURUSD price action on Friday was between 1.3527 - 1.3682.
•  Today's financial calendar is a light one with the main reports coming out of Europe. First up we have the Sentix index expected to decline to -9 followed by Germany Industrial output, expected to grow by 1% for the month of February. The main focus today will likely be on Greece and official statements from Europe.

 Currency to watch out for: EURUSD & USDJPY

• § The EURUSD pivot point is at 1.3620 with a preference to enter into long positions at 1.3630
• § The USDJPY pivot point is at 89.80 with a preference to enter long positions at 89.85

 Today's calendar and market movers:

• § Euro Zone Sentix Index for March expected at -9
• § Germany Industrial Output expected to grow by 1%

 Equity Markets:

•  US equities closed positive yesterday with the DJIA and the SP500 closing 1.17% and 1.48% respectively.  The European bourses were positive yesterday with the FTSE up 1.31% the DAX and the CAC closing positive at 0.00% and 2.14% respectively.  The NIKKEI and the HSI at the time of writing is 2.09% and 2.18% respectively.