The number of Americans filing for unemployment benefits rose less than expected last week, official data showed on Thursday. The Labour Department reported that initial jobless claims rose 1K to 234% in the week ended May 19, following the preceding week's upwardly revised 233K. Meanwhile, market analysts anticipated an increase of 5K to 238K during the reported week. That marked the 116th of claims remaining below the 300K level, the longest stretch since 1973. The four-week moving average of claims, considered to be a better measure of the labour market trends, dropped 5.75K to 235.25K last week, the lowest since April 1973.
Thursday's report also showed that continuing jobless claims advanced 24K to 1.92M in the week ending May 13, whereas their four-week moving average declined 16K to 1.93M, the lowest since January 1974. The combination of strong data on the labour market, retail sales and industrial output suggested that the US economy regained positive momentum in the second quarter. Despite the stronger-than-expected release, the US Dollar edged lower against other major currencies.
Upcoming events: US GDP and Durable Goods Orders
USD/JPY still anchored to 55-day SMA
The Greenback successfully outperformed the Japanese Yen on Thursday, causing another setback in the anticipated decline towards 111.00. Treasury yields keep weighing on the Buck, thus, a negative outcome is most likely today, despite technical indicators being unable to confirm this possibility. The weekly PP and the 55-day SMA now form immediate support, but are likely to fail at holding the losses. The main target at the moment is the 111.00 handle, but a drop that low is yet uncertain, as fundamental data could have a bullish effect on the USD/JPY pair today, in which case intraday losses have a solid chance of completely being erased.Daily chart
Traders remain bearish towards the US Dollar, with 58% of all open positions being short. Purchase orders take up 52% of the market.
At the moment, 55% of OANDA clients are long the US Dollar against the Yen, while the remaining 45% are short. In addition, Saxo Bank clients' sentiment remained unchanged over the last 24 hours, as 58% of their open positions are now long.
Spreads (avg, pip) / Trading volume / Volatility
Traders are becoming increasingly bullish on the Dollar