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The North American trading session closed Thursday with prevalent passive performance, while the US dollar has managed to retain its gains against most of the major currencies since the release of FOMC minutes.
Economic Data
The weekly jobless claims reading rose to 207 thousand claims for the week ending 31 December, compared to the previous week’s reading of 200 thousand claims. The total number of unemployment benefits beneficiaries in the United States increased to 1.754 million beneficiaries compared to the previous reading of 1.718 million, below expectations that indicated 1.688 million beneficiaries.
The Institute of Supply Management’s headline Services PMI index fell to 62.0 in December versus forecasts for a fall to 66.9 from 69.1 in November.
Business Activity fell to 67.6 from 74.6.
Prices Paid rose to 82.5 from 82.3.
New Orders fell to 61.5 from 69.7, the lowest such reading since February 2021.
Employment fell to 54.9 from 56.5.
As for the market reaction, the DXY does not seem to have reacted much to the latest US ISM survey, even though it was a tad weaker than forecast.
The Institute for Supply Management’s (ISM) Services Purchasing Managers Index (PMI) reveals the current conditions in the US service sector, which has historically been a large GDP contributor. A print above 50 shows expansion in the service sector’s economic activity.
According to US Census Bureau data, US Factory Order rose by 1.6% MoM in November. That was slightly above the expected 1.5% gain and marked an acceleration on the 1.2% MoM gain seen back in October (which was revised up from 1.0%).
Excluding transportation, orders were up 0.8% on the month, though this marked a deceleration from last month’s MoM growth rate of 1.5% (which was revised down from 1.6%.
Other Developments
The US dollar surged, adding heavy downward pressure on risk currencies and gold futures as well as falling US stocks.
The US Treasury yields breached significant resistance levels based on the results of the Fed meeting which confirmed the Fed’s intention to adopt a hawkish move towards monetary tightening.
Australia’s New South Wales state, where Sydney is located and home of one third of Australia’s 25 million population, will re-impose restrictions including shutting nightclubs and canceling non-urgent surgeries because of record coronavirus contagions according to the Sydney Morning Herald in a report published early Friday.
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