The US Dollar traded mostly lower today (Thursday) as a raft of soft economic data releases saw confidence in the greenback dampen. The US Dollar was lower against most major currencies, whilst US Stocks also traded lower following a positive opening.
US Weekly Jobless Claims Inch Higher
Dominating the daily investing news, was the number of Americans filing applications for unemployment benefits saw a slight increase last week. The US Labor Department reported on Thursday that for the week ended May 25th, initial claims for unemployment benefits increased 3,000 to a seasonally adjusted figure of 215,000. The weekly jobless claims data from the week before, was revised up 1,000 more than had been previously reported.
However, the news wasn’t all bad. The four-week moving average of initial claims, regarded as a more accurate gage of labor market trends due to the negating of weekly volatility, declined last week 3,750 to 216,750. Meanwhile, the report also revealed that the number of people in receipt of benefits following at least week of benefits dropped 26,000 to 1.66 million for the week ending May 18th. The four-week moving average of continuing claims saw a slight fall of 3,500 to 1.67 million.
Finally, somewhat overshadowed by the surprise increase in the US weekly jobless claims figures was the news that the jobless rate inched two-tenths of a percentage point lower to 3.6% last month, the lowest reading it has been for nearly half a century.
US Pending Home Sales Decline
Considered a forward-looking indicator of the health of the US housing market, the National Association of Realtors reported on Thursday that the pending home sales index posted a surprise decline in April. March’s index revised moderately higher to 105.9, the highest level since July last year. However, April saw NAR’s pending home sales index decline to a reading 104.3, a fall of 1.5%.
Contracts to purchase previously owned homes normally turn into sales one or two months later, hence their keenly watched status. The start of Summer is considered a strong time of year for house sales as families prepare for upcoming school terms. Analysts had forecast an increase of 0.9% for the pending homes sales data due to the strong nature of the housing market at this time historically.
US Dollar Lower
At time of writing (10:02 pm GMT), the EUR/USD is up 0.07%, the GBP/USD up 0.04% and the AUD/USD up 0.04%. The US Dollar was, however, up against its Canadian cousin, inching 0.02% higher. The CAD was reeling most of Thursday as the price of oil fell more than 4%.
