U.S. DATA
The number of Americans filing for unemployment benefits held at a 43-year low last week, pointing to sustained labor market strength that could pave the way for the Federal Reserve to raise interest rates in December.
Initial claims for state unemployment benefits were unchanged at a seasonally adjusted 246,000 for the week ended Oct. 8, the lowest reading since November 1973, the Labor Department said. Claims for the prior week were revised to show 3,000 fewer applications received than previously reported.
It was the 84th consecutive week that claims remained below the 300,000 threshold, which is associated with robust labor market conditions. That is the longest stretch since 1970, when the labor market was much smaller.
U.S. import prices rose in September as the cost of petroleum and a range of other goods increased, suggesting import deflation was starting to ebb.
The Labor Department said on Thursday import prices gained 0.1 percent last month after an unrevised 0.2 percent decline in August. Economists polled by Reuters had forecast import prices rising 0.2 percent last month.
In the 12 months through September, import prices fell 1.1 percent, the smallest decrease since August 2014, after declining 2.2 percent in August. A strong dollar has resulted in the country importing deflation, helping to hold inflation persistently below the Federal Reserve's 2 percent target.
Fed may want to delay policy changes until after U.S. election: Harker
The Federal Reserve may want to hold off on monetary policy changes until after the U.S. presidential election on Nov. 8, Philadelphia Fed President Patrick Harker said on Thursday.
Fed officials normally take pains to distance themselves from electoral politics, and Harker's comments were an unusual admission that the Fed might need to craft policy based on who wins the White House.
Harker will not vote at the Fed's Nov. 1-2 policy meeting but will participate in its discussions. His comments on Thursday could draw the ire of Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump, who has accused the Fed of playing politics by keeping interest rates low.
Harker said he had been in favor of a rate increase at the Fed's September policy meeting and he insisted politics never play a role in the Fed's internal debate.
Oil ends up; refined products draw offset U.S. crude build
Oil prices settled up on Thursday after a U.S. government report showing hefty draws in diesel and gasoline offset the first crude inventory build in six weeks.
Crude prices fell initially when the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) said crude stocks swelled 4.9 million barrels in the week ended Oct. 7. It was the first crude build since the end of August and was far above a 700,000-barrel rise forecast by analysts in a Reuters poll. [EIA/S]
Prices bounced back as the market turned its attention to product inventory drawdowns in the same EIA data. The EIA reported a drop of 3.7 million barrels for distillates, which include diesel and heating oil, and 1.9 million barrels decline for gasoline.
U.S. crude CLc1 ended up 26 cents, or 0.5 percent, at $50.44.
Reference : Reuters, CNBC
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