Market Drivers – European Session 20/10/2022

The recently-elected UK Prime Minister Liz Truss makes a statement this Thursday saying she will resign.

Truss will remain in place until a new leader is chosen and the leadership election will be completed in the next week.

Given that the markets have been anticipating the UK PM’s resignation, the announcement does little to influence the British pound or provide any meaningful impetus to the GBP/USD pair, which has now eased a bit from the daily high touched in the last hour.

There were 214,000 initial jobless claims in the week ending October 14, the weekly data published by the US Department of Labor (DOL) showed on Thursday. This print follows the previous week’s downward revised reading of 226,000 and beats market expectations for a rise to 230,000.

Further details of the publication revealed that the 4-week moving average was 212,250, an increase of 1,250 from the previous week’s downwardly revised reading of 211,000.

A Reuters poll showed that economic growth in the six-member Gulf Cooperation Council will remain strong, but will slow significantly next year as oil demand is affected by higher prices.

Crude oil prices, a major supporter of the Gulf economies, have fallen more than 30 percent from their highest level in nearly 14 years, reached in March at $139, as fears of a global recession and weak demand have not Especially in China, the support from a significant production cut affected the OPEC+ grouping.

China, the world’s largest oil importer, is battling COVID-19 hotspots and adhering to the “zero COVID” policy that insists on the complete elimination of the disease, which has weighed heavily on economic activities and global demand for oil.