Weekly initial jobless claims and the Philly Fed are coming up | Forexlive

US Initial Claims

It’s Thursday and that means it’s initial jobless claims day.

There are plenty of people waiting for claims to make a move higher as companies feel the pain of higher interest rates and a slower economy but it hasn’t happened yet. The consensus today is 242K but I believe the Fed would like to see at least 300K before stopping rate hikes.

One area of the economy that’s clearly weak is manufacturing so it will be no surprise if the Phily Fed is in contractionary territory once again. The consensus is -10 from -13.7 and it’s due with claims at 8:30 am ET (1230 GMT).

At 10 am ET, we get the duo of US existing home sales and eurozone consumer confidence. Neither are big market movers but they will offer clues on the underlying strength of two parts of the economy with plenty of question marks.

In terms of speakers, the calendar is blank with the Fed still in blackout. The earnings calendar is also light but the market will be digesting NFLX and TSLA late yesterday. In terms of the pre-market: