By CountingPips.com
The U.S. dollar has been mixed in forex market trading today against the other major currencies while the American stock markets have dropped following the worse than expected weekly jobless claims report. The dollar has gained ground versus the Australian dollar, New Zealand dollar and Canadian dollar while losing ground against the Swiss franc, Japanese yen and British pound sterling in today’s forex trading action. The dollar is trading close to unchanged against 
the euro as the EUR/USD hovers near the day’s opening exchange rate at 1.2795.
The U.S. stock markets, meanwhile, have had a negative day today with the Dow declining by approximately 160 points, the Nasdaq decreasing by over 30 points while the S&P 500 is down by over 18 points at time of writing. Oil has moved lower by $1.18 to $74.24 per barrel while gold has advanced by $3.70 to trade at the $1,233.40 per ounce level.
Economic News: Jobless Claims climb
Today’s economic news schedule was highlighted by the US Department of Labor’s weekly jobless claims report that showed jobless claims came in at their worst number in nine months. Jobless claims increased unexpectedly in the week that ended on August 14th by 12,000 workers to a total of 500,000 unemployed workers. This marked the first time jobless claims had risen to 500,000 workers since November of 2009.
The 4-week moving average of unemployed workers increased by 8,000 workers from the previous week to a total of 482,500. Market forecasts were expecting weekly jobless claims to fall to 478,000 workers following the previous week’s 488,000 number of claims.
Workers seeking continuing claims for unemployment benefits for the week ending August 7th decreased for the week by 13,000 workers to a total of 4,478,000 unemployed workers. The 4-week moving average of continuing claims dropped by 1,500 workers to a total of 4,526,750.
Manufacturing activity dips
Released in a separate report today was the Philadelphia Manufacturing Index by the Philadelphia Federal Reserve that showed an unexpected decline for August in its business outlook survey. The Philly general business diffusion index fell to -7.7 in August after July’s score of 5.1. August’s negative level marked the lowest level for the manufacturing index in over a year. A negative score is considered a contraction in that area or sector while a positive score signals growth. The score for August fell more than predicted as economic forecasts were expecting a 7.0 score for the month.
Leading Indicators edge higher
The U.S. Leading Indicators Index, published by the Conference Board today, edged higher in the month of July by 0.1 percent. The Leading Indicator Index, which measures future economic activity, had registered a decrease of 0.3 percent in June. The monthly rise for July was just below market forecasts that were expecting a 0.2 percent increase.
