EUR/USD Falls with US Jobless Claims

EUR/USD jumped today after four consecutive sessions of losses. The rally was big enough to reverse three-day decline. The currency pair suffered after US unemployment claims unexpectedly fell. Other reports from the United States were rather poor, but Forex traders preferred to pay attention to the positive employment data, driving the dollar up and keeping the euro down.
Initial jobless claims fell to 320k last week, while they were expected to stay at the previous week’s value of 335k. (Event A on the chart.)
CPI slowed to 0.2% in July on a seasonally adjusted basis, matching analysts’ forecasts exactly, from the June’s 0.5%. (Event A on the chart.)
NY Empire State Index slipped from 9.5 in July to 8.2 in August. It was rather unpleasant surprise for market participants who have expected an increase to 10.2. (Event A on the chart.)
Net foreign purchases fell by $66.9 billion in June after dropping by $27.0 billion in May. The median forecast has promised an increase by $31.3 billion. (Event B on the chart.)
Both industrial production and capacity utilization were virtually unchanged in July. Production showed no change after rising 0.2% in June, while traders have hoped for a 0.5% increase. Capacity utilization rate stayed at 77.6%, near the previous month’s 77.7%, instead of rising to 77.9% as economists have anticipated. (Event C on the chart.)
Philadelphia Fed manufacturing index slumped from 19.8 in July (its highest reading since March 2011) to 9.3 in August. The actual drop was much bigger than the expected decline to 15.6. (Event D on the chart.)


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