The dollar is turning in a mixed performance against its main competitors Thursday afternoon, as traders await the release of the June employment report tomorrow morning. The buck up slightly against its major European rivals, but is dipping against the Japanese Yen. Meanwhile, there was a pair of better than expected employment reports released this morning.
Private sector employment in the U.S. increased by more than expected in the month of June, according to a report released by payroll processor ADP on Thursday. ADP said private sector employment climbed by 172,000 jobs in June following a downwardly revised increase of 168,000 jobs in May.
Economists had expected an increase of about 150,000 jobs compared to the addition of 173,000 jobs originally reported for the previous month.
With the monthly jobs report looming, the Labor Department released a report on Thursday showing an unexpected pullback in first-time claims for U.S. unemployment benefits in the week ended July 2nd. The report said initial jobless claims fell to 254,000, a decrease of 16,000 from the previous week’s revised level of 270,000.
Economists had expected jobless claims to inch up to 270,000 from the 268,000 originally reported for the previous month.
Policymakers described the “Brexit” referendum as a major source of uncertainty for the euro area economic outlook and warned that the impact from a decision by the U.K. to leave the European Union would be significant, the minutes of the June 1-2 European Central Bank rate-setting session showed Thursday.
“There was general agreement that this was an important source of uncertainty as regards the economic outlook, and in the event that the United Kingdom voted to leave, i.e. a “Brexit”, there could be significant, although difficult to anticipate, negative spillovers to the euro area via a number of channels, including trade and the financial markets,” the report, which the ECB calls “accounts” said.
The dollar has climbed to around $1.1055 against the Euro Thursday afternoon, from an early low of $1.1107.
Germany’s industrial production logged the biggest decline in nearly two years in May, largely due to weak construction and capital goods output. Industrial output fell 1.3 percent month-on-month in May, reversing a revised 0.5 percent rise in April, figures from Destatis revealed Thursday. Production was expected to climb 0.1 percent.
French foreign trade deficit decreased unexpectedly in May from a month ago, as exports rose and imports fell, figures from the French Customs showed Thursday. The trade deficit narrowed markedly to EUR 2.8 billion in May from EUR 4.8 billion in April. Economists had expected the deficit to rise to EUR 4.9 billion.
The French current account gap narrowed in May due to a fall in visible trade deficit, the Bank of France reported Thursday. The current account deficit narrowed to EUR 0.3 billion in May from EUR 2.1 billion in April.
The buck has risen to around $1.2905 against the pound sterling this afternoon, from a low of $1.3046 this morning.
U.K. industrial production declined less than expected in May ahead of ‘Brexit’ results, figures from the Office for National Statistics revealed Thursday. Industrial output dropped 0.5 percent month-on-month in May, reversing a revised 2.1 percent rise in April. This was the biggest fall in five months, but was smaller than the expected decline of 1 percent.
U.K. house prices increased at a faster pace in June, data from the Lloyds Banking Group subsidiary Halifax showed Thursday. House prices grew 1.3 percent on a monthly basis in June, following a 0.9 percent rise in May. This was the fastest growth in three months and faster than a 0.3 percent rise forecast by economists.
The greenback has slipped to around Y100.690 against the Japanese Yen, from a high of Y101.251 this morning.
Japan’s leading index that signals the future economic activity, remained stable in May, preliminary survey data from the Cabinet Office showed Thursday. The leading index came in at 100 in May, the same as in April and matched economists’ expectations.
The material has been provided by InstaForex Company – www.instaforex.com