Personal spending, personal income, and jobless claims were first on
the list to bring a buzz into the currency markets. U.S. personal
spending fell flat at 0.0 percent in May after increasing for the past
three months, as consumers bought fewer automobiles, and cool weather
held back purchases of summer clothing. Personal income came in
lower than expected at 0.2 percent following a 0.5 percent rise in
April as disposable income barely crawled higher. Jobless claims
proved to be a positive note for the day due to companies keeping more
workers to meet rising demand. This caused the number of US
workers filing first-time claims for jobless benefits to unexpectedly
fall to 310,000. The next round of data included the Chicago PMI
and the Help Wanted Index (HWI), both released at lower than expected
numbers. Chicago PMI fell to 53.6 from 54.1 a month ago as
declines in new orders and production brought the index down. The
HWI indicated possible soft spots in the labor market as the index
dropped to 37 from 39 in April.
Ultimately, the headline release for the session was defined by growing anticipation of the Federal Open Market Committee’s decision on short term interest rates. Raising the rate for the ninth time by 25 basis points, policy officials remained noncommittal as following statements were subsequently tagged with a slightly hawkish bias. This now leaves speculation open as to the speed at which the Fed will allow further considerations to be applied.
U.S. equities were little changed as initial enthusiasm over Bank of America Corp.'s $35 billion acquisition of credit card issuer MBNA Corp. wore off and investors turned their attention to the Fed’s pending decision on interest rates. The Dow Jones was down 4.06, or 0.04 percent, to 10,370.42, the NASDAQ fell 0.86, or 0.04 percent, to 2,068.03, and the S&P 500 rose 0.29, or 0.02 percent, to 1,200.14 as of 16:35 GMT.
MBNA rose 5.21, or 24.73 percent, to 26.28 on the acquisition news while Bank of America fell 1.13, or 2.41 percent, to 45.78. The stock-and-cash transaction, which offers a premium of 30.6 percent for MBNA, will more than double Bank of America's card base to 40 million and give it $143 billion in card balances. Bank of America said the purchase makes it the world's largest issuer of Visa and MasterCard credit, debit and prepaid cards.
Shares of Boeing climbed 7.25 percent, or 4.47, to 66.14 after the aircraft maker named 3M Chief Executive James McNerney to succeed Harry Stonecipher, who was ousted from the CEO post in March. 3M shares slid 3.35 percent, or 2.55, to 73.49.
US Treasuries rose after the personal spending report was released, bolstering expectations that inflation will stay contained. U.S. 10-year notes were down 2 basis points to a yield of 3.961 at 16:50 GMT.
Ultimately, the headline release for the session was defined by growing anticipation of the Federal Open Market Committee’s decision on short term interest rates. Raising the rate for the ninth time by 25 basis points, policy officials remained noncommittal as following statements were subsequently tagged with a slightly hawkish bias. This now leaves speculation open as to the speed at which the Fed will allow further considerations to be applied.
U.S. equities were little changed as initial enthusiasm over Bank of America Corp.'s $35 billion acquisition of credit card issuer MBNA Corp. wore off and investors turned their attention to the Fed’s pending decision on interest rates. The Dow Jones was down 4.06, or 0.04 percent, to 10,370.42, the NASDAQ fell 0.86, or 0.04 percent, to 2,068.03, and the S&P 500 rose 0.29, or 0.02 percent, to 1,200.14 as of 16:35 GMT.
MBNA rose 5.21, or 24.73 percent, to 26.28 on the acquisition news while Bank of America fell 1.13, or 2.41 percent, to 45.78. The stock-and-cash transaction, which offers a premium of 30.6 percent for MBNA, will more than double Bank of America's card base to 40 million and give it $143 billion in card balances. Bank of America said the purchase makes it the world's largest issuer of Visa and MasterCard credit, debit and prepaid cards.
Shares of Boeing climbed 7.25 percent, or 4.47, to 66.14 after the aircraft maker named 3M Chief Executive James McNerney to succeed Harry Stonecipher, who was ousted from the CEO post in March. 3M shares slid 3.35 percent, or 2.55, to 73.49.
US Treasuries rose after the personal spending report was released, bolstering expectations that inflation will stay contained. U.S. 10-year notes were down 2 basis points to a yield of 3.961 at 16:50 GMT.
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