Initial Jobless Claims comes in at 197K against 196K consensus

Initial Jobless Claims in the United States were reported at 197K for the latest period. This figure came in slightly above the market consensus expectation of 196K. The previous week’s reading was also 197K. The actual print represents a -3.0% surprise relative to the consensus.

The immediate market reaction to the release has been relatively subdued across most major currency pairs. Fifteen minutes after the data, AUDUSD was down -1.4 pips, EURUSD was down -1.0 pips, and GBPUSD was up +1.2 pips. NZDUSD saw a -2.3 pips decline, while USDCAD was down -0.2 pips. USDCHF was up +0.3 pips. USDJPY showed a stronger move, rising +4.8 pips after fifteen minutes. For most of these pairs, the measured moves so far are small when compared to their typical median 1-hour moves, which range from 8 pips to 13 pips after past releases. XAUUSD, however, registered a notable move, trading +56 pips higher after fifteen minutes, which is above its median 1-hour move of 28 pips and within the range of top-quarter moves of 65+ pips.