Jobless claims rose to 317K. Retail sales rose only 0.3%, and core only by 0.1%. All figures are disappointing. The silver lining is the positive revisions for April, but they are not enough to compensate for the fresh shortcoming. US retail sales were expected to rise by 0.5% in May after a modest rise of 0.1% in April, now revised up to 0.5%. Core sales were predicted to play along with a rise of 0.4% after remaining flat, now revised to a rise . Weekly jobless claims carried expectations for a drop to 306K after 312K last week (before revisions, now revised to 313K). Import prices were estimated to rise by 0.2% and they rose by 0.1%.
Before the publication, EUR/USD traded around around 1.3530, GBP/USD around 1.6830 and USD/JPY at 102.13. The dollar is sliding across the board: EUR/USD jumped above 1.3540, GBP/USD moved towards 1.6840 and USD/JPY loses 102. — more coming —
AUD/USD was on the rise above 0.94 and NZD/USD traded at high ground around 0.8670. USD/CAD floated around 1.0860. The euro was the weakest currency so far this week.
All currencies are gaining against the US dollar, but the moves are limited.
Earlier this week, JOLTS job openings surprised with a leap to 4.46 million. This lagging labor market indicator means a lot to the Federal Reserve.
We still have business inventories from the US, later on today. Tomorrow, the University of Michigan publishes its consumer confidence number. See how to trade the consumer confidence with EURUSD.
