Stocks Mixed After Better-Than-Expected Initial Jobless Claims Report

Initial Jobless Claims Decline To 547,000

The U.S. has just released Initial Jobless Claims and Continuing Jobless Claims reports.

Initial Jobless Claims report indicated that 547,000 Americans filed for unemployment benefits in a week. Analysts expected that Initial Jobless Claims would total 617,000. Continuing Jobless Claims declined from 3.71 million (revised from 3.73 million) to 3.68 million compared to analyst consensus of 3.67 million.

S&P 500 futures are mostly flat after the release of the better-than expected Inital Jobless Claims report.

ECB Leaves The Interest Rate Unchanged And Maintains Asset Purchase Program

European Central Bank has recently released its monetary policy decisions. Unlike Bank of Canada, which has recently decided that it was the right time to decrease the pace of asset purchases, ECB left the key components of its policy intact.

The interest rate was left unchanged at 0%. ECB stated that it would continue to conduct net asset purchases under the pandemic emergency purchase programme until it judged that the coronavirus crisis phase was over. Obviously, this will not happen in the near term as the situation remains challenging, and the European economy remains under pressure from the third wave of the virus.

At this point, ECB decision and its initial commentary had little impact on markets. However, traders should keep in mind that ECB press conference has just begun so markets will continue to monitor ECB comments.

Oil Tries To Rebound Despite Record Number Of New COVID-19 Cases In India

WTI oil did not manage to settle below the $61 level and is trying to rebound despite worrisome news from India. Yesterday, India reported more than 315,000 new coronavirus cases, which was a new daily record.

India tried to ignore the second wave of the virus due to negative economic consequences of lockdowns but was ultimately forced to introduce additional virus containment measures.

The situation in India has put pressure on oil markets in recent trading sessions, but it looks that traders are not sure whether India’s problems will lead to problems with oil demand.

For a look at all of today’s economic events, check out our economic calendar.