• Euro and U.S. dollar waffle as markets weigh ECB policy talk

    23 Apr 2021 | Economic News
  

Euro and U.S. dollar waffle as markets weigh ECB policy talk


Major currencies gyrated between modest gains and losses on Thursday as markets tried to digest European Central Bank comments on interest rate policy amid new evidence in the United States of a stronger economic recovery.


The euro edged higher, toyed with a bigger gain and then fell back after the European Central kept its interest rate policy intact and left questions about how it will withdraw stimulus when the economy recovers.


The euro was up on the day about 0.1% against the U.S. dollar when the central bank posted its statement, and briefly doubled as ECB chief Christine Lagarde spoke afterward citing “signs of improvement” under clouds of economic uncertainty, before slipping back.


At mid-morning in New York the euro was off 0.24% to $1.2007 and the dollar index against major currencies was up 0.28% to 91.355.



Treasury yields remain flat after better-than-expected jobless claims data



U.S. Treasury yields held steady on Thursday as investors digested the release of weekly jobless claims data.


The yield on the benchmark 10-year Treasury note was little changed at 1.58%. The yield on the 30-year Treasury bond was also flat at 2.26%. Yields move inversely to prices.


The Labor Department said Thursday that first-time claims for unemployment insurance totaled 547,000, which was below the Dow Jones estimate for 603,000.


Meanwhile, closed sales of existing homes fell 3.7% in March to a seasonally adjusted annualized rate of 6.01 million units, according to the National Association of Realtors. That is the slowest sales pace since August and the second straight month of declines.


Still, sales were 12.3% higher than March 2020, when transactions were falling due to the Covid pandemic.


An auction of $24 billion 20-year bonds on Wednesday showed strong demand, according to a Reuters report.


Reference: CNBC

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