Crude Oil Surged 7%

On Wednesday, the UK’s ONS (Office for National Statistics) released the latest unemployment figures which show an increase in the number of unemployed persons in the country by 21K, the quarter-on-quarter total surpassing by a fraction the 1.7 million thresholds in the month of February. This increase is the first one recorded since the middle of last year, when also the UK jobless rate was the lowest of the decade, meaning 5.1%. The jobless claims went up by 6.7K in March, after a revised 9.3K drop in February, making this the first increase since last year’s August. The claimant count rate although, stayed at 2.1% - the lowest level since 1974. On the other hand, wage growth (excluding bonuses) remained steady at 2.2% on a quarterly basis in the month of February.

On Thursday, the sterling registered losses under renewed selling pressure, sending the GBP/USD major close to the 1.4300 support line. The already downward slope steepened after UK’s retail sales figures from March came far from estimates. The headline sales went down 1.3% on a monthly basis while core sales also dropped 1.6%. Further data shows a £4.16 billion Public Sector net borrowing last month, down from February’s £6.33 billion.

No surprises from the ECB’s (European Central Bank) side, the bank leaving the main refinancing rate unchanged at 0.00%, the marginal lending facility rate at 0.25% and the deposit interest rate at -0.40% per year. The EUR/USD major is trading relatively stable after the short period of volatility following Draghi’s conference. Close to the ECB decision, the pair dropped sharply from 1.1397 to 1.1268, turning to the upside after to reach the 1.1310 resistance, but fell back under 1.1300. Overall, we can see a weakness in the EUR while the USD gains momentum across the board. At the time of writing, the pair traded at 1.1285/90, slightly lower for the day and above 100 pips difference from the daily height.

The oil price went down from the 2016 yearly-highs posted on Thursday due to the increase in the greenback’s demand following ECB’s dovish comments presented by the bank’s President Mario Draghi – a possible interest rate cut later this year for the Eurozone. The WTI (West Texas Intermediate) crude traded between $43.08 and $44.48 per barrel yesterday, closing at $43.23 or down $0.95, meaning 2.15% for the session. This drop is coming after a 7% hike on Wednesday when crude hit its highest price since early November last year.