Good morning, its Thursday April 14th, the 104^th day of 2005.
No surprises in the news today – jobless claims fell slightly but last week’s number was revised higher:
” Claims fell to 330,000 from a revised 340,000 the prior week that was higher than first reported, the Labor Department said today in Washington. The four-week moving average, a less volatile measure, rose to 338,000 from a revised 337,750.”1
Meanwhile, Business Inventories came in as expected, up 0.5%2.
Before the bell Crude is up marginally off yesterday’s lows, sitting at 50.59 for the current front month contract and 52.41 for the June contract.
The US Dollar has moved up 0.83% (Gold is off near 1%) on what may be simply technical trading – as its nearing key resistance here, we’ll soon learn if the Greenback is able to break out of the range its been in for some time now. Fed Govenor Bernanke’s speech this evening may factor in this. Also of note:
“There are strong rumours in the market that part of the euro’s misfortunes now are linked to famed U.S. investor Warren Buffett’s trades wherein he is said to be closing long euro positions and netting hundreds of millions of dollars in profit. A report issued by the International Monetary Fund last night is also contributing to the dollar’s strength as the IMF is forecasting the U.S. will outperform the eurozone’s and Japan’s economies this year. U.S. interest rates are higher than those in the eurozone and Japan thus the dollar continues to be supported by positive interest rate differentials and cyclical growth differentials.” More >
US Market Calendar
- 8:30 am: Initial Claims – Apr. 9th week1
- 8:30 am: Business Inventories – Feb.2
- 5:00 pm ET: Federal Reserve Governor Ben Bernanke to speak about the U.S. current account deficit, at the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis. Audience Q&A
Canadian Market Calendar
- 8:30 am: Existing Home Sales – Mar.
- BoC Monetary Policy Report
Earnings and the Federal Reserve
For earnings highlights, please see today's WSJ Earnings Calendar.
For a list of upcoming speeches, congressional testimony, Federal Open Market Committee material, and statistical releases, please visit the What's Next page of The Federal Reserve Board website. Recently released Federal Reserve Board material, including market moving FOMC decisions and speeches by members, will be found on their What's New page.
1 U.S. Jobless Claims Fell 10,000 Last Week to 330,000
2 Business Inventories Up 0.5 Pct in Feb
05.04.14 09:26 #