GBP surge puts GBP/USD on track for best......>

FOREX: GBP surge puts GBP/USD on track for best week since March

-Lagging US average hourly earnings, a chorus of dovish Feb members and VP Pence

placed the USD under considerable pressure Friday and GBP was the main

beneficiary. GBP/USD rallied well above the $1.3150 mark to touch the best

levels since early April, looking to lock in the best weekly performance since

March. UK local election results were brutal for the Conservative and Labour

parties, increasing the onus on them to sort out a Brexit deal at cross-party

talks due to conclude next week.

-The April nonfarm payroll report headline beat by a decent margin (+263k vs.

Exp. +190k), but AHE missed by 0.1ppts on both the M/M and Y/Y readings, leaning

markets against the greenback. Further pressure was added as VP Pence railed

against the Fed, stating that it "may be time to look at the Fed's dual mandate

again". This extended the USD Index's gap with recent cycle highs to 0.8%.

-Japanese markets re-open Monday, but the UK remains closed. Focus turns to rate

decisions from the Australian, New Zealand and Norwegian central banks. UK GDP,

the Canadian jobs report and US CPI are also due.