EUR/USD demonstrated a huge leap today, jumping 3%, after the European Central Bank disappointed those market participants who were counting on extensive stimulus measures. While the central bank added some stimulus, it left its main interest rate and the size of asset purchases unchanged. Meanwhile, the US service indices missed expectations, further bolstering the euro versus the dollar.
Initial jobless claims rose from 260k to 269k last week, matching analysts’ expectations exactly. (Event A on the chart.)
Markit services PMI was at 56.1 in November according to the final estimate. The actual value was higher than the October’s rate of 54.8 but lower than the flash estimate and analysts’ expectations of 56.5. (Event B on the chart.)
ISM services PMI fell from 59.1% in October to 55.9% in November, missing the experts’ projection of 58.1%. (Event C on the chart.)
Factory orders rose 1.5% in October, exceeding market expectations of 1.2% growth. The September’s change was revised from -1.0% to -0.8%. (Event C on the chart.)
Yesterday, several reports were released. (Not shown on the chart.)
ADP employment demonstrated growth by 217k in November from October. It was bigger than the predicted increase of 191k and the October’s rate of growth by 196k (revised up from 182k).
Revised nonfarm productivity rose at the annual rate of 2.2% in Q3 2015, exactly the same as forecasters had predicted, after increasing 3.3% in Q2.
Crude oil inventories increased by 1.2 million barrels last week, staying near the record level for this time of year. This is compared to the median forecast of a 0.6 million drop and the preceding week’s 1.0 million increase. Total motor gasoline inventories were barely changed, rising by just 0.1 million barrels.
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