(MENAFN– ecpulse) The dollar slumped against six of its major counterparts last week behind further choppy economic data, signaling the Federal Reserve will probably maintain stimulus measures to spur economic growth.
A stream of hopes and fears flew into the U.S. market last week, as further mixed data were released and earnings were reported by several huge U.S corporations and up till now it is strongly speculated that the Fed will most likely continue to pump cash into the world`s largest economy.
The U.S. Labor Department showed us this week that the number of Americans who filed for unemployment benefits increased last week, hurt by the annual plant shutdowns.
Jobless claims rose by 7,000 to 343,000 in the week-ended July 20 after a revised 336,000 the prior week. Analysts had estimated a rise to 340,000.
The bigger picture of the jobs market somehow improving recently, as firings slow and payroll gains pick up, raising the odds that consumer spending will accelerate in the second half of the year. In fact, fewer dismissals would lay the foundation for larger gains in hiring as the peak of the drag from government budget cuts passes.
On the other hand, we watched the nation`s goods orders have climbed 4.2% in June, the third consecutive monthly gain, boosted by a large gain in aircraft bookings.
Bookings for U.S. goods meant to last at least three years jumped 4.2 percent in June, following a revised 5.2 percent gain in May that is bigger than initially reported. Analysts had expected a gain of 1.4 percent.
As for the housing sector, its improvement remains clearly sensed but on a gradual pace with this week the National Association of Realtors reporting that the new home sales rose to a 497,000 annual rate in June, compared with a revised 459,000 in May, from 476,000 while analysts had expected a rise to 484,000.
New home sales increased by 8.3% in May, compared with a rise by 1.3% in April, while analysts had expected a gain of 1.7%.
Now the earnings reported in the past few days came out mixed. Netflix slumped 1.5 percent to $258 after it said that it added 630,000 new U.S. customers for its Internet TV service in the second quarter, fewer than the average analyst projection of 700,000.
The company forecast earnings of 30 cents to 56 cents a share in the third quarter, while the average analyst estimate called for 43 cents. Netflix shares have surged 183 percent so far this year.
Wendy’s Co. surged 8.6 percent to $7.26 after the fast-food chain reported earnings that beat estimates and boosted its dividend. The company said it will sell 425 restaurants to franchisees while reducing company ownership to around 15 percent from 22 percent.
More, tech-giant Apple, which hasn`t refreshed its iPhone and iPad since last year, managed to top analysts’ earnings projections in its fiscal third quarter.
The dollar slumped against a six-currency basket last week. The Dollar Index settled the weekly trade below 82-mark, as euro gains weighed the most on the dollar, pushing the USDIX towards 81.64, its lowest level since June 20.
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