American markets are closed today and will begin trading normal time Sunday evening.
Highlights
The US initial claims for unemployment benefits dropped 18,000 to a seasonally adjusted 228,000 for the week ended April 1, which was 28,000 more claims than expected. Worse yet, data for last week’s new unemployment claims was revised higher by a whopping 48,000.
The Canadian economy added more jobs than expected in March and the unemployment rate remained near a record low for a fourth straight month. The economy gained a net 34,700 jobs, almost entirely in the private sector, and the unemployment rate held steady at 5.0%. The market expected 12,000 new jobs would be gained in March.
Crude oil prices continued to trade sideways yesterday, a rather remarkable feat given the action and news the past four weeks.