Article Highlights
- U.S. CB consumer confidence index down from 97.4 to 97.3 vs. 95.6 forecast
- Richmond manufacturing index rose from -7 to +10 vs. -4 estimate
- U.S. new home sales up to 592K in June, previous figure upgraded to 572K
- U.S. flash services PMI down from 51.4 to 50.9 vs. 51.2 forecast
After a bit of a weak start in the day, the Greenback recovered against its forex rivals during the New York session thanks to mostly upbeat data.
Major Events:
U.S. economic releases – Uncle Sam printed mostly stronger than expected economic reports, with upgrades in previous readings to boot! The CB consumer index for July dipped from 97.4 to 97.3 but this was much higher than the projected 95.6 reading. Meanwhile, new home sales came in at 592K in June, higher than the estimated 560K figure and the previous month’s reading, which was upgraded from 551K to 572K.
Over in Richmond, the manufacturing index rose from -7 to +10 to show a return to industry expansion versus the expected improvement to -4. On a less upbeat note, the flash services PMI slid from 51.4 to 50.9 to show a slower pace of industry growth versus the projected fall to 51.2. Overall, market watchers seem to be pricing in a hint of hawkishness in the FOMC statement this week since data from the U.S. hasn’t been disappointing.
More weakness in crude oil – Black Crack chalked up yet another losing day as traders continued to price in expectations of a rise in U.S. stockpiles. WTI crude oil fell $0.25 to $42.83/barrel (-0.58%) while Brent crude oil dipped to a low of $44.54/barrel but managed to close at $45.19/barrel (+0.13%).
Major Currency Movers:
JPY – Yen traders probably booked profits off their long positions from the earlier trading sessions, causing the Japanese currency to retreat during the U.S. session.
USD/JPY bounced off the 104.00 handle to a high of 104.93 (+0.89%), EUR/JPY rallied from support at the 114.50 area to a high of 115.35 (+0.74%), GBP/JPY climbed from 136.85 to a high of 137.96 (+0.81%), and AUD/JPY edged slightly higher from 78.65 to 78.85 before closing at 78.55 (-0.12%).
Watch Out For:
- 1:30 am GMT: Australian CPI q/q (0.4% expected, -0.2% previous) Why is this report a big deal?
- 1:30 am GMT: Australian trimmed mean CPI q/q (0.4% expected, 0.2% previous)
See also:
Asian Session Recap
London Session Recap
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