US weekly jobless claims fell to the lowest level in more than 50 years
Wall Street indexes managed to finish higher overnight despite a hawkish message from the Federal Reserve after a slew of strong economic data. The GDP grew by 2.1% in the third quarter, weekly jobless claims fell to the lowest level in more than 50 years, while the goods trade deficit narrowed in October to the best level since December 2020. Consumer spending exceeded estimates as well.
Furthermore, the minutes from the latest Fed meeting showed that the central banker officials were ready to accelerate the timetable for slowing asset purchases and raising the benchmark funds rate amid rising inflation. Still, S&P 500 ticked up 0.23%, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite gained 0.44% and the Dow Jones Industrial Average lost less than 0.1%. U.S. markets are closed Thursday for Thanksgiving and will close early on Friday in a shortened session.
Asian stock markets were broadly lower on Thursday, with equities in South Korea falling after the country’s central bank raised interest rates and upgraded its 2022 inflation forecast. In China, Kaisa said it wants to extend the maturity of a $400 million bond by 1.5 years to resolve a liquidity crisis. Shares of the embattled developer rallied nearly 15% following the announcement.
In currencies, the greenback extended the ascent to fresh multi-month highs in response to hawkish Fed minutes and strong economic data. After a rally, the dollar retreated partially early on Thursday, correcting lower amid overbought conditions. As such, the EURUSD pair is back above the 1.1200 figure, but downside risks continue to persist despite the USD index retreats in tandem with the Treasury yields on Thanksgiving Day.
Meanwhile, gold prices came under severe selling pressure during the first half of the week. The bullion extended losses to early-November lows just below the $1,780 area on Wednesday before bouncing marginally. Today, the yellow metal is flirting with the 100- and 200-DMAs marginally below the $1,800 level that represents the immediate target for bulls.
