Today's news headlines: 

‘US jobs growth slows despite reopenings and vaccinations’. The US jobs market posted a big miss on Friday, with only 266,000 jobs added in the month of April. This compared poorly to March’s figure of 770,000 and fell well below economists’ expectations that the US would have created nearly 1m new jobs. Meanwhile, the unemployment rate edged up to 6.1%, leaving the labour market some distance off pre-pandemic levels. US President Joe Biden commented that the nation was in a marathon not a sprint, and that although the climb will be steep, the jobs market is moving more rapidly than he expects. (Financial Times)

‘Reeves named shadow chancellor as Starmer tries to steady Labour’. Kier Starmer reshuffled his Labour shadow cabinet after disappointing local election results this weekend. Starmer made Rachel Reeves, a former Bank of England official, Shadow Chancellor. The challenge of posing a credible opposition to the Conservatives looks to be further away than at any point in recent memory, with Labour taking a thrashing in the council elections. Starmer released a statement saying that Labour would embrace the demand for change across the country with his refreshed and renewed team. (Financial Times)

Today's events, rates, and data 

• The Pound has rallied since markets opened yesterday evening, following a strong set of local election results that reinforced the public’s backing of the Conservative’s. Some hope that weaker US jobs data would lead to further stimulus has also caused equity index futures to rise in the US and Europe.

Today's events

Aussie Retail Sales: 1.3% vs 1.4% previously
NAB Business Confidence: 26 vs 17 previously
Eurozone Sentix Investor Confidence: 9.30am
FOMC Member Evans Speaks: 7.00pm

Interbank rates

GBP/USD: 1.4060
GBP/EUR: 1.1565
EUR/USD: 1.2155
USD/CAD: 1.2100

The markets are moving. To speak to our team, please call +44 (0)20 3465 8200.