Talking Points:
- US Jobless Claims stayed within trend, showing no deterioration in underlying labor force.
- Fed reports showed mixed results: Chicago Fed National Activity Index beat and Philly Fed Survey came in worse than expected.
-USD/CAD and USD/JPY were laregely unchanged in immediate reaction to data as all eyes on President Mario Draghi and the ECB.
US Initial Jobless Claims came in at 253k, beating expectations of 265k, and in line with the recent trend. This, coupled with Continuing Claims of 2128k that beat expectations of 2137k, continue to paint a picture of a strong labor market despite two bad labor reports in the last three months.
Also out at 12:30 GMT, the Chicago Fed National Activity Index came in at 0.16, beating expectations of a contraction of -0.2. The Philly Fed survey results came in near opposite, coming in at -2.9 despite expectations of 4.5. The Philly Fed Survey is a report that judges manufacturers outlook which suggests a negative direction for production.
This morning at 7:45, the European Central Bank released its rate and asset purchase decisions, leaving them unchanged. At the time this US Data was released, President Mario Draghi of the ECB was beginning his press conference, so market attention was focused there.
See the DailyFX economic calendar for Thursday, July 21, 2016
Chart 1: EUR/USD 1-minute Chart: July 21, 2016 Intraday
In an immediate response to the data, the US Dollar fell slightly against the Canadian Dollar, with the USD/CAD falling to C$1.3041 from C$1.3052. By the time this report was written, the pair had recovered to C$1.3053.
Read more: ECB Keeps Rates on Hold; EUR/USD Awaits Draghi Commentary
--- Written by Omar Habib, DailyFX
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