On the day that the American president Barack Obama is in Rome to meet Pope Francis, Giorgio Napolitano and Matteo Renzi, positive data on the United States economy arrives from Washington.
According to the Commerce Department, stars and stripes GDP grew by 2,6% in the fourth quarter every year. The figure is higher than that contained in the intermediate estimates, which spoke of an increase equal to 2,4%, but lower than the expectations of analysts, who had foreseen an upward revision up to +2,7%. The preliminary estimate for January had signaled a +3,2%.
In the third quarter, the American GDP had grown by 4,1%, while between April and June 2012 the increase had been 2,5%.
On the labor market front, US workers applied for the first time last week the unemployment benefit they were 311 thousand, 10 thousand less than the previous week. In this case, the figure beats the forecasts of analysts, who expected a rise to 325 units. The previous week's survey was revised upwards from 320 to 321 thousand units.
The four-week average, more reliable as it is not subject to market fluctuations, fell to 317.750 units, the lowest since September. The figure remains below 400 units, a threshold which according to analysts signals a stalemate.
The total number of workers who received unemployment benefits for more than a week – relating to the week ending March 15, the last for which data is available – dropped by 53 to 2.
On the bond side, following a session with rising prices, Treasuries they are losing ground thanks to the unexpected drop in weekly jobless claims. However, today's signal does not provide clear indications on what the Federal Reserve's monetary policy will be like, which intends to base itself on the labor market as a whole before making decisions on rates.
Of the various maturities, it is the 7-year bond that suffers the most, thanks to today's $29 billion auction. RBS Securities observed selling on this expiry overnight. Good demand from the 2 and 5 year bond auctions this week could reduce appetite for today. The 2-year yields 32/2,703 with a yield of 0,0406%. The three-year bond travels at XNUMX%.
This is the trend for the other maturities: for 2-year bonds, the yield falls to 0,4575%, for 5-year bonds, the yield increases to 1,7249%, and for 3,5313-year bonds, the yield falls to XNUMX%.
As for Wall Street, futures on the S&P, Dow Jones and Nasdaq indices veered higher immediately after the release of the figures on unemployment benefits and GDP for the last quarter of 2013, resulting in growth of 0,1%.
