There were plenty of economic reports released from the United States today as some of them were moved to Wednesday due to the holiday tomorrow. Data was a bit mixed but good for the most part. This allowed the dollar to gain on the euro, but the rally was very limited in size. Over the longer term, the greenback remains supported by the outlook for monetary tightening while its European peer stays under pressure from prospects for monetary easing.
Initial jobless claims fell from 272k to 262k last week. Experts did not predict any change. (Event A on the chart.)
Personal income rose 0.4% in October, matching forecasts exactly, after rising 0.2% in September (revised up from the initial reading of 0.1%). Personal spending was up 0.1%, at the same rate as in the previous reporting period and below the median forecast of 0.3%. Core PCE inflation was at virtually zero compared to the analysts’ predictions of 0.1% and the previous month’s 0.2%. (Event A on the chart.)
Durable goods orders jumped 3.0% in October, almost two times the forecast increase of 1.6%. The September’s change got a positive revision of -1.2% to -0.8%. (Event A on the chart.)
Flash Markit services PMI climbed to 56.5 in November up from 54.8 in October, rising above market expectations of 55.2 and reaching the highest level since April. (Event B on the chart.)
New home sales were at the seasonally adjusted annual rate of 495k in October. While it was above the September’s 447k (negatively revised from 468k), the value was below the 500k predicted by specialists. (Event C on the chart.)
Michigan Sentiment Index advanced from 90.0 in October to 91.3 in November according to the revised reading. Still, it was below the preliminary estimate and experts forecast of 93.1. (Event C on the chart.)
US crude oil inventories expanded by 1.0 million barrel last week, basically in line with forecasters’ estimates of a 1.2 million gain. The stockpiles were up just 0.3 million during the preceding week. Total motor gasoline inventories swelled by 2.5 million barrels last week. (Event D on the chart.)
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