Any Hope on the Horizon?

After the early morning European sessions ended, price action took a backseat and slow trading set in. Initial jobless claims coming out of the US are back down below 310,000, but tracking a gradual rise as the boost in February faded just as the January dip ended. The levels suggest some slight loosening in the labor markets, as the 4-week average reached a 16-month high in early March. Continued claims are on an upswing as well, with the weekly level at a 14-month high the same week. This provides a nearly real-time read on the labor market, as the low 4.5% unemployment reflects the broader measure of net hiring. Today’s economic indicators offered insight on two of the market’s top areas of interest – growth and employment. Traders, however, were not as enthusiastic about the data. The principal release for the session was the final measurement of fourth quarter economic growth. Economists expected the final revision to match the first one with a 2.2 percent annual growth rate. Perhaps the modest outlook caught traders off guard, but when the actual print posted higher at 2.5 percent, the USD found small gain. Currently, the EUR/USD is holding at 1.3332 and the GBP/USD is hovering at 1.9620.

David Hilgeman, XPRESSTRADE Analyst