Market Drivers – US Session – 24 March 25, 2022

Mohamed Abdelhamid 25 March, 2022 4:32 am Commodities, Forex Market, Market Update

The American dollar finished the day mostly lower across the FX board, although it managed to keep advancing versus the Japanese yen, with USD/JPY hitting a fresh multi-year high of 122.40.

The EUR/USD pair is still struggling with the 1.1000 threshold, unable to extend gains beyond the level. GBP/USD settled around 1.3180, while commodity-linked currencies keep advancing against their American rival. AUD/USD topped at 0.7527 while USD/CAD bottomed at 1.2509.

Economic Data
US jobless claims set a more than 50-year low last week as the red-hot labour market shows few signs of cooling in the near-term. The Labour Department released its latest weekly jobless claims report Thursday.

Jobless claims fell by 28,000. Initial jobless claims, week ended March 19: 187,000 versus. 210,000 expected and a revised 215,000 during prior week. Continuing claims, week ended 12 March 1.350 million versus 1.400 million expected and a revised 1.417 million during prior week.

The four-week average for claims, which compensates for weekly volatility, fell to 211,750 from the previous week’s 223,250. In total, 1,350,000 Americans – a more than 50-year low – were collecting jobless aid the week that ended 12 March.

The Commerce Department said durable goods orders slumped by 2.2 percent in February after jumping by 1.6 percent in January. Economists had expected durable goods orders to dip by 0.5 percent. The much bigger than expected decrease in durable goods orders came as orders for transportation equipment plunged by 5.6 percent in February after surging by 3.2 percent in January.

Other Developments
US President Joe Biden and European NATO counterparts are preparing for the risk of Moscow launching a nuclear attack. They have also discussed assisting Ukraine with anti-ship missiles and clarified that any gold transaction involving Russia’s central bank is subject to existing sanctions.

The news boosted the bright metal, which surged to a fresh weekly high of $1,966.14 a troy ounce, ending the day nearby.

Crude oil prices, on the other hand, consolidated their recent gains, ending the day little changed. WTI trades at around $113.20 a barrel at the time being.

French President Emmanuel Macron later announced that there had been no decision on penalties against Russian oil, gas, and coal. US President Joe Biden said he believes Russia should be removed from the G-20.

The number of new coronavirus cases, blamed on the Omicron BA.2 variant, are on the rise in Germany, the UK, France and Italy, the top European countries suffering from this new wave. So far, no restrictive measures have been put in place, but on the contrary, the latest of restrictions is being lifted.

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