A small flurry of activity is coming up at the bottom of the hour when jobless claims and the PCE report will be released.
Claims have been stuck around 360K for the past several weeks but edged up to 372K last week. A rise to 380K would be enough to spark concern about a slowing economy. It would take a fall below 355K to dampen QE speculation and boost USD.
Core PCE is expected at 1.7% but inflation isn’t a major concern at the moment. Instead, the market will focus on spending, which is expected up 0.5% in July. Consumers have been a source of optimism in the past month. A reading above 0.7% (ex-revisions) would be a dollar-buying signal.
After that, the calendar quiets and we will get ready for Big Ben.
