EUR/USD extended its yesterday’s drop for the second session today as Forex market participants are still tries to swallow the comments of US policy makers. The data was mixed as the robust housing data and the unexpected expansion of manufacturing did not help the leading index to rise much. What is even more important, unemployment claims rose yet again, suggesting that stable employment growth was not reached yet. This means that an end to quantitative easing will likely be postponed.
Initial jobless claims rose from 336k to 356k last week. The actual increase was bigger than the rise to 343k that economists have anticipated. (Event A on the chart.)
Existing home sales grew to the seasonally adjusted annual rate of 5.18 million in May from 4.97 million in April, while market commentators have promised a smaller increase to 5.01 million. The report said that “the housing numbers are overwhelmingly positive”. (Event B on the chart.)
Philadelphia Fed manufacturing index increased from â5.2 in May to 12.5 in June. The actual figure was markedly better than the expected reading of -0.6. (Event B on the chart.)
Leading indicators rose 0.1% in May, in line with forecasts of 0.2% growth. The rate of growth was slower than the April’s 0.8% (revised up from 0.6%). (Event B on the chart.)
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