Good news for the US jobs market: jobless claims fell back to the early 2006 levels of 280K, much better than expected. This is a drop of 36K. On the other hand, housing figures disappoint: building permits are at 1 million (annualized) and housing starts at 0.96 million, both below expectations.
The US dollar is reacting positively, with USD/JPY getting closer to 109. EUR/USD is sliding within the lower range, getting closer to support at 1.2860. GBP/USD slides from the poll-inspired highs and is now around 1.6357.
More on jobless claims: last week’s claims were revised up to 316K. The 4 week moving average is once again under 300K with 299.5K. Continuing claims are down to 2.429 million, continuing the gradual slide. All in all, this is a sigh of relief, after it had already seemed that claims were turning back up.
More on housing: in short, the data is wild: housing starts for July were revised up to 1.12 million, making the fall to 0.96 million now quite huge and the previous rise quite large. Building permits also saw an upwards revision to 1.06 million, making the fall to 1 million larger.
US building permits and housing starts were both expected to rise to an annualized level of 1.04 million. Last month’s housing figures were really great. Jobless claims were expected to stand at 312K after a disappointing 315K last month (before revisions).
The dollar was generally stronger across the board, enjoying the FOMC related rally.
The Fed tapered for the 7th time and still said it would take a considerable time before rates rise. However, the market was hungry for dollars and the result was a greenback rally across the board.
Fed Chair Janet Yellen will be speaking soon, but is not expected to talk about monetary policy.
There is still one more event today: the Philly Fed Index. See how to trade this indicator with USD/JPY.
After that, the focus shifts solely to Scotland, without any other disturbances.
