U.S. Weekly Jobless Claims (for the week ending Aug 3rd) were 233k, nearly matching the 240k estimate. And the prior week’s tally was revised up to 250k from the original 249k. No surprises in the jobs data is a welcome respite from recent volatility which was partially sparked by the sharp decline in Nonfarm payrolls for July reported last Friday.
The dollar had been under pressure leading up to the weekly claims release, but has since reversed its losses, lifting the U.S. Dollar Index to an intraday high at 103.426 (from a low of 102.916). The dollar is higher vs. 8/10 of the G10, led by a 0.59% gain vs. NOK and 0.52% gain vs. SEK.
The Australian dollar is leading gains against the USD, +0.51% following hawkish comments by RBA Governor Bullock who said that the central bank won’t hesitate to raise rates if data continues to show persistently high inflation.
U.S. Treasury yields are higher in all tenors, led by a 0.113% gain in the closely watched 2-year at 4.075%. During Monday’s market meltdown the 2-year yield briefly dipped to a low of 3.65%. The medium-term downtrend for yields remains in place despite today’s rally, and the 2-year could trade as high as 4.35% and still retain the lower trend bias.
The benchmark 10-year yield is at 4.008% today, further distancing itself from the 3.665% low on Monday.
U.S. equities are higher in premarket trading as bargain hunting from Monday’s selloff continues. Gold is +1.32% and silver is +1.92%. Bitcoin is +4.32%.
