LONDON (SHARECAST) - The dollar rallied on Thursday, as investors digested various economic reports which showed less-than-impressive data and corporate earnings that came in mixed.
Data showed that initial US unemployment claims rose by 46,000 to 388,000 last week (consensus: 365,000), as last week’s seasonal factor induced drop was unwound.
Giving its verdict on the figures, Barclays research had this to say: "Overall, and given the noise associated with the start of the quarter, we suggest focusing on long-term trends and the four-week moving average.
"There, the modest improvement in the four-week moving average in initial claims from 379k in the previous survey week ending September 15 to 366k this week is more consistent with the uptick in the rate of payroll growth in Q3 versus Q2. The four-week moving average is only slightly above the post-crisis low achieved during the week ending March 31 (363k)."
Meanwhile, in China, official data showed that gross domestic product (GDP) slowed to 7.4% in the third quarter from the same time a year earlier, in line with expectations.
The ICE dollar index, which measures the greenback against a basket of six other major currencies, rose from 79.022 late Wednesday to 79.162 yesterday evening.
Measuring the dollar against a wider selection of currencies, the WSJ dollar index showed a rise of 0.435% to 69.56 last night.
The euro declined to $1.3101, compared to $1.3121 last Wednesday, while the pound exchanged hands at $1.6135, against $1.6147 the prior evening.
NR
|
