Series of bad data coming from the US. On the employment front, the initial weekly requests for unemployment benefits fell but less than expected: the reduction was by 1.000 units to 388.000 against a decline expected by analysts to 375 thousand units. The four-week average rose by 6.250 million units to 381.750 units, its highest level in a year.
On the growth front, the Chicago Fed index recorded a sharp drop in March to -0,29 points compared to 0,07 in February (revised figure). The drop is mainly due to production, which fell to -0,13 from 0,12 points, while sales, orders and stocks were also down.
