In the US session New Home Sales and Unemployment Claims figures were published. Sales of new single-family houses in December 2017 were at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 625,000, according to estimates released jointly today by the U.S. Census Bureau and the Department of Housing and Urban Development. This is 9.3 percent below the revised November rate of 689,000, but is 14.1 percent above the December 2016 estimate of 548,000. An estimated 608,000 new homes were sold in 2017. This is 8.3 percent (±4.1 percent) above the 2016 figure of 561,000.
Separate report on Unemployment Claims showed that in the week ending January 20, the advance figure for seasonally adjusted initial claims was 233,000, an increase of 17,000 from the previous week's revised level. The previous week's level was revised down by 4,000 from 220,000 to 216,000. The 4-week moving average was 240,000, a decrease of 3,500 from the previous week's revised average. The previous week's average was revised down by 1,000 from 244,500 to 243,500.
There will be no major releases from Australia tomorrow. In the US session GDP and Durable Goods Orders figures will be published. Analysts predict 3.0% growth in GDP and 0.9% increase in Durable Goods Orders.
Figures to watch:
Advance GDP (Friday 14:30)
Durable Goods Orders (Friday 14:30)
