US: Jobless claims and existing home sales in the limelight – BBH

The North American economic calendar turns more active today, but it is not the stuff that moves the market, and this seems doubly true in the current environment with the release of initial jobless claims and existing home sales data due, according to analysts at BBH.  

Key Quotes

“Investors know that the US labor market continues to move in the right direction, so jobless claims offer little new.  We note that the four-week average is about 5k above its cyclical low reached in mid-May.  Existing home sales may attract somewhat better attention after yesterday's unexpected weakness in new home sales.  Since last September, existing home sales have alternated between rising and falling on a monthly basis.  Sales fell 2.9% in June and are expected to have risen by around 0.5% in July.   The Kansas City Fed's manufacturing survey attracts little interest, but it is likely to be consistent with a pick up in US economic activity in H2.”