Market Analysis

Bonds are under pressure this morning as a result of a sharp drop in Initial Jobless Claims for the week ended 1/14/2012.  Claims dropped to 352,000 vs 402,000 for the prior week.  Analysts had been expecting a 385,000 figure. 

In separate economic news, the December Consumer Price Index (CPI) was unchanged vs expectations for a .1% increase.  The Core CPI (excluding food and energy) was up .1% which matched expectations.  December Housing Starts came in at an annualized pace of 657,000 vs expectations for a 673,000 figure.  December Building Permits came in at an annualized pace of  679,000 which almost matched expectations for a 680,000 figure.  Finally, the Philadelphia Fed Index came in at a reading of 7.3 vs expectations for a 10.0 reading.