Given the recent pattern of things, the currency markets seemed to have widely ignored the results of the latest US jobless claims report this morning in New York. First time unemployment claims rose sharply by 32,000 for the week, placing the figure at a whopping 516,000 and worse than expectations. The report findings are now at the highest level since 2001 and all but confirms the recessionary state of the economy. Incidentally, the news would have placed significant pressure on the market, leading the US dollar higher against major currencies. However, a bit of short covering is looking to boost both the Euro and Australian dollar in the session start. The Euro has been well bid since hitting a $1.2387 low early in the London hours, now trading significantly higher at $1.2532.

The US trade deficit release was additionally disappointing even as the gap narrowed to $56.5 billion in the month of September according to the US Commerce Department. Although a positive improvement since the $59.1 billion shortfall in August, excluding petroleum price reductions on the figure, the deficit actually widened on the month as global consumers shunned American made exports.

Tags: US Initial Jobless Claims, US Trade Deficit

This entry was posted on Thursday, November 13th, 2008 at 11:55 am and is filed under Economic Indicators, Euro. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.