• Initial Jobless Claims in the US declined by 15,000 last week.
• The US Dollar Index stays on the defensive near 102.00.

There were 190,000 initial jobless claims in the week ending January 13, data published by the US Department of Labor (DOL) showed on Thursday. This print followed the previous week's print of 205,000 and came in better than the market expectation of 214,000.

Further details of the publication revealed that the 4-week moving average was 206K, a decrease of 6,500 from the previous week's average of 212.5K

Market reaction

The US Dollar Index continues with its struggle to gain any meaningful traction and remains on the defensive around the 102.00 mark amid rising bets for smaller Fed rate hikes.