Weekly unemployment claims in the US now stand at 367K, 1000 people less than last week. The consensus was for a rise from last week’s 368K (revised up from 365K) to 371K this time.
EUR/USD is marginally weaker after this release. Also USD/JPY is a bit lower. This is very moderate “risk averse” movement to data that was within expectations. Other figures fell short or expectations.
Last week’s drop came after three weeks of elevated figures of 387K to 392K.
US trade balance deficit was expected to rise to nearly $50 billion. It jumped to 51.8 billion dollars.
US import prices dropped by 0.5%, much more than a slide of 0.1% that was expected. It’s important to note that last week’s initial report of a rise of 1.3% was revised to the upside: 1.5%, so the drop isn’t that sharp.
Ben Bernanke will speak shortly, but he isn’t likely to provide any new information regarding monetary policy.
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