07:35am     As it is the U.S. Non Farm Payrolls announcement today I traditionally do not trade but will be back in front of my screens next Tuesday – I hope you have a nice relaxing weekend break.

Market Update:

Markets have been dominated by the overnight news that the U.S. launched a cruise missile attack on the Shayrat Airbase near Homs in Syria. At times like this there is normally a rush to safe-havens and the Japanese Yen and Gold have rallied with the latter trading as high as $1269.30 in the past 6 hours although it has fallen back slightly to $1262.50 at the moment.

The overnight Asian session was choppy to say the least as traders digested the news from the Middle East and pondered over the likely consequences although at the close only the Hang Seng index was down, all others where slightly up on the day.   The European trading session is just getting underway and at the moment most bourses are relatively flat as traders wait for key employment figures from the U.S. at lunchtime  as it is the first Friday of the month and Non Farm Payroll numbers are once again released.

As is quite usual, any escalating conflict in the Middle East brings higher oil prices as traders worry over supply issues and overnight both WTI Crude and Brent Crude have rallied. The U.S benchmark rose to a high of $52.67 just after news of the air strike emerged but has fallen back slightly and is currently trading at $52.49.