The markets are open in the US but Canada is closed
The US market's will be open today, but Canada will be off in observance of Boxing Day. Most European markets were also closed, but the forex market is open.
To start the North American session, the NZD is the strongest of the majors. The JPY is the weakest. The USD is mixed.
At 8:30 AM ET/1230 GMT, the weekly US initial claims will be released with expectation at 220k vs 234K last week. The numbers have been movnig a little higher of late but it could have been the late Thanksgiving messing with the numbers. The post Christmas seasonals have the potential to also mess with the numbers. So we may not get a true reading until after the New Year.
Earlier today, the MBA mortgage applications showed a -5.3% decline for the week of Dec 20. That was ontop of a -5.0% decline last week.
- Purchases fell -4.8% versus -2.1% in the prior week. They are up 5.3% on the year
- Refinancings fell -5.1% versus 16.5% in the prior week. They were up hundred and 27.8% on the year
- Those loans that were fixed-rate mortgages fell -4.7% versus -4.6% last week
- Those loans that were adjustable came in -15.8% versus -4.6% the prior week
- The 30 year mortgage picked up to 3.99% from 3.98%. A year ago the rate was at 4.86%
- the 15 year rate came in at 3.39% versus 3.4% last year. Year ago the rate was 4.31%
- the average loan size was $320,800.00 vs $308,700 last week
Looking at the ranges and changes for the day, as one might expect, the ranges for the major pairs are lower than their 22 day averages. Of the majors, the USDJPY is the farthest from the close from yesterday at +21 pips, the NZDUSD is up 14 pips. The rest is within 9 pips of the level.
In other markets:
- Spot gold is up $5.41 or 0.36% at $1505.28
- WTI crude oil is up $$0.02 or 0.03% at $61.12
In the pre-market for US stocks, the futures are implying marginal gains:
- Dow is up 17.55 points
- S&P is up 3.75 points
- Nasdaq is up 12.75 points
In the US debt market, yields are up 0.9 to 2.6 bps
