"That's going to be a real challenge to do unless you really stoke up demand in the rest of the world. European companies in particular face a lot of uncertainty"
- Jay Bryson, global economist at Wells Fargo Securities LLC
After gaining some strength following a release of weaker-than-expected data from Europe the greenback rose from the two-year low against the single currency; however, disappointing jobless claims and trade figures from the world's largest economy pushed EUR/USD back to 1.382.
As usual on Thursday, the Labor Department unveiled the number of jobless claims for the last week. The report showed the number of initial unemployment benefits fell 12,000 to a seasonally adjusted 350,000 last week, and even though it is better than a week earlier, this figure is short of market anticipations, who expected a reading of 343,000. The four-week moving average ticked up to 348,250. The market reaction was very moderate as markets already prepared for weak figures after a 16-day long government shutdown.
A separate report from the Commerce Department said the trade gap widened 0.4% to $38.8 billion in August from a revised $38.6 billion a month earlier, as both imports and exports stalled, reflecting weak global growth. Fiscal gridlock in the United States and uncertainty over what would happen to the economy in February is holding back consumer spending globally, while domestic companies are showing unwillingness to hire more staff.
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