By CountingPips.com
The U.S. Dollar has been mostly on the defensive today versus its global currency rivals in forex trading as investor’s risk appetite has continued its flow on positive data releases. The dollar has been losing ground versus the euro, British pound, Australian dollar and the Canadian dollar while gaining ground against the New Zealand dollar, Swiss franc, and 
Japanese yen, according currency data by Oanda.
The euro has gained versus the dollar for the second straight day as the EUR/USD pair has extended to trading above the 1.3550 level. This pair touched an intraday low of 1.3460 before turning higher to trade at its highest exchange rate since March 19th.
The U.S. stock markets, meanwhile, advanced today with the Dow Jones up by 70.44 points, the Nasdaq increasing 4.62 points and the S&P 500 gaining by 8.67 points. Oil has climbed higher by $1.34 to trade at $85.10 while gold has gained by $11.90 to trade at the $1,125.20 per ounce level.
ISM Manufacturing data increases for 8th month
U.S. Manufacturing data activity rose for the eighth straight month in March and increased to its highest level in six years, according to the Institute for Supply Management. The ISM Report On Business index reading for economic activity was at a 59.6 score in March following February’s reading of 56.5, touching the highest level since July 2004. A score above 50 is considered to be growth and less than 50 is considered to be contraction in that sector.
Market forecasts were predicting a reading of 57.0 for the month of March.
Norbert J. Ore, chairman of the ISM Business Survey Committee, stated in the report that, “The manufacturing sector grew for the eighth consecutive month during March. The rate of growth as indicated by the PMI is the fastest since July 2004. Both new orders and production rose above 60 percent this month, closing the first quarter with significant momentum going forward. Although the Employment Index decreased 1 percentage point to 55.1 percent from February’s reading of 56.1 percent, signs for employment in the sector continue to improve as the index registered a 10 percent month-over-month improvement, indicating that manufacturers are continuing to fill vacancies.”
Just about all indexes for March had increased levels led by inventories and prices that rose by 8.0 percentage points each. Exports grew by 5.0 percent while imports edged higher by 1.0 percent. Employment and backlog of orders were the only sectors showing contracting levels for the month.
Weekly Jobless Claims
U.S. weekly jobless claims decreased by a bit more than expected in the week that ended on March 27th, according to a release by the U.S. Labor Department today. New jobless claims fell by 6,000 workers to a total of 439,000 unemployed workers from the previous week’s revised total of 445,000. The 4-week moving average of unemployed workers decreased by 6,750 workers from the previous week to a total of 447,250.
Market forecasts were expecting jobless claims to edge down to 440,000 workers from the prior week.
Meanwhile, workers seeking continuing claims for unemployment benefits for the week ending March 20th also decreased for the week. Continuing claims fell by 6,000 workers to a total of 4,662,000 unemployed workers. The four week moving average of continuing claims dropped by 12,500 workers to a total of 4,679,500.
Tomorrow is Nonfarm Payrolls Friday as the important government employment report is released at 12:30pm GMT with market forecasts expecting a positive number in the vicinity of 184,000 jobs added for February.
