FX.co ★ Fundamental Analysis, December 03, 2010

Preliminary unemployment data published yesterday in the United States has been slightly disappointing, with the amount of first unemployment claims growing by 26 thousand last week to a level of 436 thousand, the U.S. Department of Labor reporters yesterday. Analysts predicted a more moderate rise in the amount of claims to a level of 425 thousand. The eyes of investors are now turned towards the central macroeconomic publication in the United States, the monthly unemployment report, expected to point to a continued recovery in the American labor market.

As expected, the European Central Bank left the interest rate unchanged yesterday, at a level of 1.0%. Furthermore, Jean-Claude Trichet, President of the ECB, announced that the bank plans to continue its government bond purchase program that it commenced about half a year ago. The bank's report caused the European indexes to jump up, beginning sharp index rises. The London exchange locked at a 2.2% rise, the Frankfurt exchange rose 1.3%, and the Paris exchange climbed up 2.1%,

Wall Street trading has locked yesterday on handsome price rises due to positive macroeconomic data published on the retail and real estate sectors in the United States, as well as the ECB announcement regarding its intent to continue purchasing government obligations on the European continent. By the end of the trading day, the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose by 1% to a level of 11,362, the NASDAQ index grew 1.2% to a level of 2,579 points, whereas the S&P 500 increased by 1.3% to a level of 1,221 points, completing a 3.5% growth in two days.

In the majority of Asian stock exchanges, the leading indexes are trading this morning on a mixed trend with a slight tendency towards index rises. As such, Hong Kong's Hang Seng advanced 0.2%, the Australian S&P/ASX strengthened 0.45%, the Shanghai index drops 0.2%, whereas the Tokyo Nikkei was trading at light 0.1% rises.

The price of crude oil rose to its highest level in the past 3 weeks based on yesterday's publication of positive economic data and index rises in the world's stock exchanges. January futures on crude oil closed on 88 dollars per barrel, a 1.4% rise.