Thursday, January 7, 2010
The U.S. Dollar erased early overnight losses and is now trading higher after China shocked the Forex markets with a surprise hike in interest rates. China’s move to curb excessive
lending and curtail price increases drove traders into lower yielding, safe haven currencies. China’s central bank sold 3-month bills at a higher interest rate for the first time in 19 weeks. This
news is expected to put pressure on commodity and stock prices today.
This morning’s key report is the U.S. Weekly Initial Claims Report. This is the second of three job related reports this week. Last week’s report showed initial claims at 432K.
Economists have pegged this week’s range at 420 to 470K with the consensus at 450K.
Equity markets are under pressure because of the news from China. Commodity related stocks are putting the most pressure on stock prices. In addition, institutional and mutual funds
are expected to remain absent ahead of tomorrow’s U.S. Non-Farm Payrolls Report.
Treasury futures are trading lower but inside of their recent ranges. Trading is expected to …
