The dollar is trading modestly higher against all of its major rivals Thursday afternoon. Economic data remained on the light side, with weekly jobless claims decreasing by slightly less than economists had expected. Traders are awaiting the outcome of today’s UK election, while the European Central bank made no changes to its monetary policy.
After reporting increases in first-time claims for U.S. unemployment benefits in the two previous weeks, the Labor Department released a report on Thursday showing a pullback in initial jobless claims in the week ended June 3rd.
The report said initial jobless claims fell to 245,000, a decrease of 10,000 from the previous week’s revised level of 255,000. Economists had expected jobless claims to drop to 240,000 from the 248,000 originally reported for the previous week.
The European Central Bank left its key interest rates and massive monetary stimulus unchanged for a tenth successive policy session, but made a subtle change to its forward guidance by omitting the mention of lower levels for interest rates in future.
“The Governing Council expects the key ECB interest rates to remain at their present levels for an extended period of time, and well past the horizon of the net asset purchases,” the ECB said in a statement.
The ECB tweaked the language of this statement, which in April read “present or lower levels” for interest rates.
“If the outlook becomes less favorable, or if financial conditions become inconsistent with further progress towards a sustained adjustment in the path of inflation, the Governing Council stands ready to increase the programme in terms of size and/or duration,” the bank said.
European Central Bank President Mario Draghi on Thursday unveiled the bank’s latest set of macroeconomic projections that revealed an upgrade to the region’s growth outlook and a lowering of the inflation projections.
The euro area growth forecast for this year was raised to 1.9 percent from 1.8 percent. The outlook for next year was raised to 1.8 percent from 1.7 percent. The growth projection for 2019 was boosted to 1.7 percent from 1.6 percent.
The risks surrounding the euro area growth outlook are considered to be broadly balanced, Draghi said.
Inflation projection for this year was trimmed to 1.5 percent from 1.7 percent. The outlook for next year was slashed to 1.3 percent from 1.6 percent. The forecast for 2019 was cut to 1.6 percent from 1.7 percent.
The dollar has climbed to around $1.1215 against the Euro Thursday afternoon, from an early low of $1.1269.
Eurozone’s economy expanded more-than-initially estimated in the first quarter on domestic spending. Gross domestic product climbed 0.6 percent sequentially, faster than the 0.5 percent growth estimated previously, latest data from Eurostat showed Thursday. The economy grew 0.5 percent in the fourth quarter of 2016.
Germany’s industrial production recovered in April after falling slightly in March, figures from Destatis showed Thursday. Production advanced 0.8 percent in April from March, when it dropped by revised 0.1 percent. The pace of growth was also faster than the expected 0.5 percent.
The French trade deficit increased in April from a month earlier, as exports fell faster than imports, data from the customs office showed Thursday. The trade deficit widened to EUR 5.5 billion in April from EUR 4.8 billion in the previous month.
The buck has risen to around $1.2940 against the pound sterling this afternoon, from an early low of $1.2977.
The house price balance in the United Kingdom was down in May, the latest survey from the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors showed on Thursday. The house price balance declined to +17 in May from +22 in April. It was expected to fall to +20.0. Moreover, British house prices grew at their weakest rate since August 2016.
The greenback slipped to a low of Y109.377 against the Japanese Yen this morning, but has since bounced back to around Y110.
Japan’s gross domestic product was bumped down to +0.3 percent on quarter in the first three months of 2017, the Cabinet Office said in Thursday’s revised reading. That missed forecasts for an increase of 0.6 percent after last month’s preliminary reading called it at 0.5 percent.
Japan had a current account surplus of 1,951.9 billion yen in April, the Ministry of Finance said on Thursday. That exceeded forecasts for a surplus of 1,698.8 billion yen and was down from 2,907.7 billion yen in the previous month.
Overall bank lending in Japan was up 3.2 percent on year in May, the Bank of Japan said on Thursday, coming in at 513.269 trillion yen. That topped expectations for an increase of 3.0 percent, which would have been unchanged from the April reading.
A measure of peoples’ assessment of the Japanese economy increased for the second straight month in May, in line with expectations, survey figures from the Cabinet Office showed Thursday. The current index of Economy Watchers’ survey rose to 48.6 in May from 48.1 in April. The figure also matched consensus estimate.
The material has been provided by InstaForex Company – www.instaforex.com
June 09, 2017 at 12:27AM
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