Eyes on US Payrolls

• Australia’s April Monthly Household Spending Indicator rose 0.1% after a 0.1% fall in March (revised from -0.3%). Spending remains weak, and this indicator is set to replace retail sales as the key consumer gauge.
• The goods trade surplus narrowed, driven by a fall in non-monetary gold and key commodity exports.
• Weekly US jobless claims rose to 247k (vs. 235k expected), continuing a run of soft labour market data.
• Markets now focus on tonight’s US Nonfarm Payrolls, with consensus forecasting a slowing to 126k jobs added (down from 177k last month) and unemployment holding at 4.2%.