Thursday was marked by German Business Sentiment data from Eurozone. Strong sentiment in the German economy weakened slightly this month. The Ifo Business Climate Index for German industry and trade fell to 108.7 points in December from 109.0 points in November. No change was expected. Assessments of the current business situation declined. Optimism about future business developments, by contrast, remained unchanged. The index values for the business climate, situation and expectations are around three points above the respective levels seen in December 2014.
In the US session
Unemployment Claims and Philly Fed Manufacturing Index figures were released. In the week ending December 12, the advance figure for seasonally adjusted
initial claims was 271,000, a decrease of 11,000 from the previous week's unrevised level of 282,000. This was in line with market expectations. The 4-week moving average was 270,500, a decrease of 250 from the previous week's unrevised average of 270,750.
Separate report, on Philly Fed Manufacturing Index showed that diffusion index for current activity returned to negative territory this month, decreasing from 1.9 to -5.9. Analysts were anticipating slight incline to 2.1. This is the third negative reading in the past four months. The index for current new orders remained negative and fell 6 points, to -9.5. However, firms reported higher shipments, as the current shipments index increased 6 points to a reading of 3.7. Firms reported a decline in unfilled orders, with the index falling from 2.4 to -17.7.
With no major data releases tomorrow, we can expect a bit steadier session in which markets are still going to weigh on recent Fed's rate hike and more importantly stanzas from the following statement. Also, markets are going to speculate about possible future ECB moves.
