US jobless claims data released at 12:30 pm GMT today came in below 200k once again. Market expected reading to come in at 205k, following last week's 212k. Note that last week's reading was an outlier and jobless claims had a sub-200k streak before it. Housing market data for February that was released simultaneously to the jobless claims reading also positively surprised. Housing starts reached 1450k (exp. 1310k) while bulding permits came in at 1524k (exp. 1335k). On the other hand, Philly Fed index increased less than expected, moving from -24.3 to -23.2 (exp. -15.5).
USD strengthened following release of the data but the move was rather small and quickly reversed. EURUSD now trades higher compared to pre-announcement levels. Equity indices moved slightly lower.
