AMERICAS OIL: Canadian Firms Sign Contracts to Increase Capacity to US: DJ

The jobless claims data were on balance a little better than expected. New claims hit their lowest single week since Feb’24 and with the four-week average not too far off at its lowest since April, but continuing claims surprised a touch higher. It looks like the trend of companies managing headcount through slower rehiring rather than layoffs is still intact. 

• Initial jobless claims surprised lower at 201k (sa, cons 215k) in the week to Jan 4 after an unrevised 211k.
• The four-week average fell 10k to 213k, its lowest since Apr’24 and through the 2019 average.
• Continuing claims on the other hand were a little higher than expected at 1867k (sa, cons 1860k) in the week to Dec 28 after a downward revised 1834k (initial 1844k).
• Timing of the festive period can make seasonal adjustment difficult but the non-seasonally adjusted 305k is at the low end of recent years.  
• Note that by state, the 22.4k increase in NY (which drove the 21.3k increase in national claims) to 37.5k was in keeping with typical starts to the year. 

• Date $MM Issuer (Priced *, Launch #)
• 01/08 $6B *World Bank 7Y +54
• 01/08 $4.25B #IADB 5Y SOFR+42
• 01/08 $1.5B #Kommunalbanken 5Y +48
• 01/08 $1.5B #CoE Dev Bank 5Y SOFR+42
• 01/08 $500M Novelis 5NC2 
• 01/08 $Benchmark AIIB 5Y +47a
• 01/08 $Benchmark NWB 5Y SOFR+50a
• 01/08 $Benchmark Ontario 5Y SOFR+58
• 01/08 $Benchmark Northwestern Mutual 5Y +70a
• 01/08 $Benchmark Deutsche Bank 4NC3 fix/SOFR
• 01/08 $Benchmark Codelco 10Y +195a, 30Y +215a
• 01/08 $Benchmark HF Sinclair 6Y +165a, 10Y +185a
• 01/08 $Benchmark Santander UK 6.25NC5.25 +150a
• 01/08 $Benchmark Indonesia 5Y 5.65%a, 10Y 5.95%a

GBPUSD (7th Mar) 124.00p, bought for 2.05, 2.06, 2.07 in ~1.22k.

• This is already ITM, the CME contract also trades close to where the spot is, now at 123.21.