Are investors eyeing the wrong indicators?

That stronger-than-expected payroll data recently saw the dollar rally and bond prices fall is testament to the fact that traders have little sense of what is truly important, says Paul van Eeden.

The US Labor Department announced a 180,000 increase in non-farm payroll jobs during March and economists had expected a 142,000 increase. It is not exactly as if economists have any credibility in predicting payroll data, never mind that the data is incredibly volatile on a month-to-month basis and subject to material revisions - so why all the fuss?

Market focuses on economic data

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