The U.K.’s Gross Domestic Product figures were released early Thursday morning. Better than forecast, the GDP grew 0.6% during the first quarter of 2013, a clear improvement of the 0.2% growth posted in the first quarter of 2012. Mark Carney’s challenge as the next Governor of the BoE now seems to be somewhat smaller than anticipated, although this growth trend appears precarious.
Canada’s Average Weekly Earnings figure for February was scheduled for 8:30 Thursday morning. Markets forecast a 3.0% growth for the month, an increase over the previous month’s increase of 2.7%. This economic indicator is noteworthy, but it does not appear to have much influence over the USD/CAD pairing.
South of the border, Initial Jobless Claims data are also expected. Markets are forecasting that some 350k claims were filled, a slight improvement over last week’s 352k. If the Durable Goods Orders figures released Wednesday (at -5.7% rather than the -3.0% forecast) are indicative of the soundness of the job market, it would be surprising for the jobless claims figure to go below 330k, the lowest level of the year so far. Have a good day. Xavier Villemaire
Range of the day: 1.0200 - 1.0280