GBP Rises After Positive UK Housing and Confidence Data

The pound rose to a one-week high versus the dollar after reports showed U.K. home prices gained for a second month in October and consumer confidence increased.

U.K. government bonds climbed for the first time in three days as Barclays Plc pushed back its forecast for the Bank of England’s first interest-rate increase since 2007 to February from November. Minutes of BOE policy makers’ most recent meeting are set to be published on Oct. 22. A report two days later will show the British economy expanded for a seventh consecutive quarter, according to analysts surveyed by Bloomberg.

“It’s seeing a short-term resurgence,” Jeremy Stretch, head of foreign-exchange strategy at Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce in London, said of the U.K. currency. “It’s a slightly more positive risk environment and I guess the underlying theme is still going to be data-driven.”

Sterling rose 0.3 percent to $ 1.6144 at 1:59 p.m. London time after touching $ 1.6151, the highest since Oct. 9. It fell to $ 1.5875 on Oct. 15, a level not seen since November. The pound strengthened 0.2 percent to 79.12 pence per euro.

Investors may sell the U.K. currency as it advances, according to Stretch, who doesn’t “see the justification for a squeeze higher to $ 1.62 or anything of that magnitude,” he said.

via Bloomberg

MarketPulse

The post GBP Rises After Positive UK Housing and Confidence Data appeared first on FX FOREX.

via WordPress http://ift.tt/1DutUz6



Forex, after, confidence, Data, housing, positive, Rises

US Jobless Claims Rise Employment Trend is Still Positive

The number of Americans filing new claims for unemployment benefits unexpectedly rose last week, but that probably does not signal a material shift in labor market conditions as claims remain near their pre-recession levels.

Initial claims for state unemployment benefits increased 11,000 to a seasonally adjusted 315,000 for the week ended Sept. 6, the highest level since late June, the Labor Department said on Thursday.

Economists polled by Reuters had forecast claims slipping to 300,000 last week.

The period included the Labor Day holiday and claims tend to be volatile around holidays. A Labor Department analyst said there were no special factors influencing the state level data.

The four-week average of claims, considered a better measure of labor market trends as it irons out week-to-week volatility, edged up 750 to 304,000, not far from pre-recession levels and consistent with strengthening labor market conditions.

Atlantic City casino closings could bump up claims in the coming weeks.

U.S. Treasury debt prices held their modest gains, while the dollar and U.S. stock index futures were little moved by the data.

Job growth braked sharply in August, with employers adding only 142,000 jobs to their payrolls – snapping six consecutive months of job increases above 200,000.

via Reuters

MarketPulse

The post US Jobless Claims Rise Employment Trend is Still Positive appeared first on FX FOREX.

via WordPress http://ift.tt/1qnf4Hh



Forex, claims, employment, Jobless, positive, Rise, Still, trend