Market Roundup
•US Initial Jobless Claims 310K,335K, 340K previous
•US Jobless Claims 4-Week Avg 339.50K ,355.00K previous
•US Continuing Jobless Claims 2,783K,2,744K forecast,2,748K previous
•Natural Gas Storage 52B, 40B forecast, 20B previous
•Cushing Crude Oil Inventories 1.918M ,0.836M previous
•US Crude Oil Inventories -1.529M,-4.612M, -7.169M previous
Looking Ahead –Economic Data (GMT)
•02:00 China Sep Thomson Reuters IPSOS PCSI 68.94 previous
•02:00 Japan Sep Thomson Reuters IPSOS PCSI 40.79 previous
Looking Ahead - Events, Other Releases (GMT)
•No significant events
Currency Summaries
EUR/USD: The euro held onto small daily gains on Thursday after the European Central Bank said it will trim emergency bond purchases over the coming quarter, taking a first small step towards unwinding the emergency aid that has propped up the euro zone economy during the pandemic. The euro was last up 0.02% on the day at $1.1823, though trading was volatile after the ECB statement with the single currency bouncing between $1.1809 and $1.1842.Immediate resistance can be seen at 1.1835 (50%fib), an upside break can trigger rise towards 1.1865(38.2%fib).On the downside, immediate support is seen at 1.1809(Daily low), a break below could take the pair towards 1.1803 (61.8%fib).
GBP/USD: Sterling rebounded on Thursday, snapping three straight days of losses and was on course to regain the ground lost since the announcement of a UK tax hike to fund health spending and social care.The pound had touched a two-week low against the dollar on Wednesday and hit its weakest versus the euro since late July when the tax plan was formerly announced on Tuesday. Sterling was last up 0.49% higher at $1.3893 , just about its closing price on Monday. Immediate resistance can be seen at 1.3863(23.6%fib),an upside break can trigger rise towards 1.3891 (Higher BB).On the downside, immediate support is seen at 1.3797(38.2%fib), a break below could take the pair towards 1.3753(50%fib).
USD/CAD: The Canadian dollar strengthened against its U.S. counterpart on Thursday as the greenback broadly fell and Bank of Canada Governor Tiff Macklem gave no hint that further tapering of bond purchases was off the table at an announcement next month. The Canadian economy is moving closer to the point where the Bank of Canada will no longer need to keep adding stimulus to the economy through its quantitative easing program, but it is not there yet, Macklem said. The Canadian dollar was trading 0.3% higher at 1.2650b to the greenback.Immediate resistance can be seen at 1.2691 (38.2%fib), an upside break can trigger rise towards 1.2775 (23.6%fib).On the downside, immediate support is seen at 1.2613(50%fib), a break below could take the pair towards 1.2534 (61.8%fib).
USD/JPY: The dollar dipped against yen on Thursday as Treasury yields fell after the U.S. government saw strong demand for a sale of 30-year bonds. The greenback has largely moved in line with Treasury yields this week. Yields fell on Thursday after the Treasury completed $120 billion in coupon-bearing supply scheduled for this week. Data on Thursday showed that the number of Americans filing new claims for jobless benefits fell last week to the lowest level in nearly 18 months, offering more evidence that job growth was being hindered by labor shortages rather than cooling demand for workers. Strong resistance can be seen at 109.85(38.2%fib), an upside break can trigger rise towards 110.26(Higher BB).On the downside, immediate support is seen at 109.64(50%fib), a break below could take the pair towards 109.36(61.8%fib).
Equities Recap
Euro zone stocks bounced off session lows to end little changed on Thursday after the European Central Bank signalled it will only slightly reduce its emergency bond purchases over the coming quarter, as widely expected.
UK's benchmark FTSE 100 closed down by 1.01 percent, Germany's Dax ended up by 0.08 percent, France’s CAC finished the day up by 0.24 percent.
The S&P 500 ended lower on Thursday after weekly jobless claims fell to a near 18-month low, allaying fears of a slowing economic recovery, but also stoking worries the Fed could move sooner than expected to scale back its accommodative policies.
Dow Jones closed down by 0.43% percent, S&P 500 closed down by 0.46 % percent, Nasdaq settled down by 025% percent.
Treasuries Recap
Commodities Recap
Gold firmed on Thursday, lifted by a slight retreat in the dollar, but renewed bets that the U.S. Federal Reserve may start early tapering of economic support capped gains, with the European Central Bank also slowing its bond buying.
Spot gold rose 0.5% to $1,797.41 per ounce by 1:34 p.m. EDT (1734 GMT). U.S. gold futures settled up 0.4%, at $1,800 per ounce.
Oil prices fell to a two-week low on Thursday as China rolled out a plan to release state oil reserves, the U.S. weekly crude draw was smaller than expected and U.S. Treasuries rallied as investors sought safer assets.
In volatile trade, Brent futures fell $1.15, or 1.6%, to settle at $71.45 a barrel. U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude fell $1.16, or 1.7%, to $68.14. That was the lowest settlement for both since Aug. 26.
