Summary:
- Solid prints from the US housing and labour market
- Philly Fed index surges to 16.6 pts
- USD gains in the aftermath of the release
A pack of the US data has been released at 1:30 am BST, including housing and labour market data. The initial jobless claims reading came in at 212k, below expected 220k and previous 228k. Housing market data also surprised to the upside. Housing starts print showed 1235k against an expected 1209k while building permits came in at 1296k against expected 1269k. Note that both previous readings were revised slightly higher. Apart from that, we got another major positive surprise from the regional index. Yesterday NY Empire index jumped from 10.1 pts to 17.8 pts while today Philly Fed index came in at 16.6 pts against forecasted 10 pts. The overall tone of the datapack can be viewed as USD-positive and this is also the reaction that we are observing on the market. Beat in April’s housing market data is especially pleasing after yesterday April’s retail sales release turned out to be a disappointment.
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EURUSD moved sharply lower in the aftermath of the US data release. The main currency pair dipped below the 1.12 handle in a knee-jerk move and touched support zone ranging 1.1182-1190. Source: xStation5
