American stocks rose on Thursday evening after mixed economic data from the country. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), the country’s initial jobless claims declined from 215k to 187k last week. This was the best performance in a few weeks. Additional data showed that the continuing jobless claims dropped from 1.47 million to 1.35k. Meanwhile, durable goods orders declined sharply in February as the cost of doing business rose. Durable goods declined by 2.2% after expanding by 1.6% while core durable orders fell by 1.35%. Some of the best performing stocks were companies like Nvidia, AMD, Nikola, and Global Foundries among others.
The British pound was little changed against the US dollar after ahead of the upcoming UK retail sales numbers. Economists polled by Reuters expect the data to show that the country’s retail sales rose by 0.6% on a MoM basis in February from the previous 1.9%. On a year-on-year basis, they expect the data to show that sales rose by 7.8% even as consumer prices jumped. Meanwhile, analysts expect that core retail sales rose by 5.6%. These numbers will come two days after the UK published strong inflation data and a week after the Bank of England (BOE) raised interest rates for the third time.
The price of crude oil retreated slightly even as analysts predicted that the situation would get cloudy in the next few months. Brent declined to $119 while West Texas Intermediate fell to $$112. Still, analysts believe that the situation will continue worsening as western countries continue debating on how to substitute Russian oil. The key economic events to watch today will be the latest German business confidence data and the NATO meeting in Brussels.
EURUSD
The EURUSD pair remained above the ascending yellow trendline in the overnight session as the volatility index retreated. It is trading at 1.100, which is slightly above this week’s low of 1.0964. It is trading at the 25-day moving average and is between the 23.6% and 38.2% Fibonacci retracement level. The Relative Strength Index (RSI) has also flattened at the neutral level. Therefore, the pair will likely remain in this range today.
GBPUSD
The GBPUSD pair was also in a tight range ahead of the latest UK retail sales data. On the four-hour chart, the pair is along the lower side of the ascending channel pattern. It has also moved above the 23.6% Fibonacci retracement level. It is also slightly below the 25-day moving average while the MACD has made a bearish crossover pattern. Therefore, the pair will likely have a bearish breakout.
NAS100
The Nasdaq 100 index has been in a strong bullish trend in the past few weeks. It is now trading at the highest level since February 17. It is also between the middle and upper side of Bollinger Bands while the RSI has moved below the overbought level. Therefore, the index will likely maintain its bullish trend.
