StockMarketWire.com - US continuing jobless claims have been released on Thursday, coming in at 3053k, an increase from the previous reading of 3048k. Initial jobless claims, however, provides a better benchmark of the health of the labour market came in better-than-expected at 336k, up from 334k previously.

Initial Jobless Claims measures the number of individuals who filed for unemployment insurance for the first time during the past week. This is the earliest U.S. economic data, but the market impact varies from week to week.

Further, existing home sales for March have posted a worse-than-expected level of 4.98 million (expectations of 5 million), however the level improved on its previous level of 4.94 million. The US dollar pared some of its gains immediately following the release, but remains ahead on the day.

USDJPY 94.79 -0.33%, NZDUSD 0.8327 +0.12%, AUDUSD 1.0446 +0.11%, EURUSD 1.2919 +0.11%, USDCHF 0.9459 -0.11% and USDCAD 1.0243 -0.01%.

Canadian core retail sales have improved 0.5% month-on-month, outperforming expectations of 0.4% and improving markedly on last month’s level of -1.0%. The Canadian dollar has since moved to the upside following the announcement.

Core Retail Sales measures the change in the total value of sales at the retail level in Canada, excluding automobiles. It is an important indicator of consumer spending and is also considered a pace indicator for the Canadian economy.

CADJPY 92.51 -0.32%, NZDCAD 0.8530 +0.12%, CADCHF 0.9231 -0.11%, EURCAD 1.3235 +0.11%, AUDCAD 1.0701 +0.10%, GBPCAD 1.5551 +0.08% and USDCAD 1.0243 -0.01%. .

At market close:


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