Forex Trading

The U.S. Dollar anticipates the release of U.S. Core CPI at 12:30 GMT. The reason this publication is so important is due to it being a leading measure of U.S. economic growth and inflation. A positive figure is likely to help the USD gain strength throughout today's trading. The USD will also be affected by its yesterday's bearishness, as there may be a slight correction in the greenback. Traders should open their USD positions now in order to make maximum profits from end-of-week trading.



USD - USD Slides on Poor Economic Data

During yesterday's trading, the Dollar dropped against all the major currencies. The Dollar dropped as much as 100 pips at one point against the EUR on Thursday, and saw bearish trends against the Pound and the Yen as well.

The Dollar weakened yesterday as a result of series of negative economic data releases. The U.S Retails Sales unexpectedly dropped by 0.1% in July, failing to reach expectations to rise by 1.8%. The U.S Core Retails Sales dropped by 0.6% in July too. The difference between the two reports is that the core report measures the change in the total value of sales at the retail level, excluding automobiles, due to the high volatility of automobile sales. The fact that both indices showed negative figures proves that American consumers are still cautious regarding their expenses, lacking the confidence that the worst of the recession is behind us

The other important release that helped push down the Dollar on Thursday was the weekly Unemployment Claims report which showed that 558,000 individuals filed for unemployment insurance for the first time during the past week. Both the negative Retails Sales data and the poor employment figures showed that the U.S economy is yet to pull out of recession, and thus the Dollar weakened as the trading day progressed.

Looking ahead to today, the leading data seems to be the Consumer Price Indices (CPI). The CPI measures the change in price of goods and services purchased by consumers, and thus act as a leading inflation gauge. Traders are advised to focus their attention on the Core CPI report, which excludes food and energy prices, as it tends to deliver a more reliable figure. Current forecasts suggest that prices have stayed quite stable during July. It appears that if the actual result will be similar or slightly better, it may correct some of yesterday's losses for the Dollar. However, in case of a worse-than-expected result, the Dollar is likely to continue tumbling.

EUR - EUR Soars on Positive GDP Figures

The EUR saw a volatile trading session yesterday. The EUR rose significantly higher against the Dollar, as the EUR/USD reached the 1.4300 level. However, the EUR saw mixed results against both the Yen and the Pound.

It appears that the EUR's appreciation came as a result of the better-than-expected economic data. The German Preliminary Gross Domestic Product (GDP) unexpectedly rose by 0.3% in the 2nd quarter. The GDP report measures the change in the inflation-adjusted value of all goods and services produced by the economy. The positive result generated speculations that the German economy is recovering sooner then expected, as many analysts wrongly forecast that the German economy will only pull out of recession by the middle of 2010.

Later on in Thursday's trading day, the European Flash GDP was released, showing that the Euro-Zone's GDP dropped by 0.1% during the 2nd quarter, beating expectations for a 0.5% slide. The better-than-expected figures created the sensation that the Euro-Zone economy is following the U.S optimism which we have seen in the past 2 months that the recession will end sooner than expected. As a result, this has strengthened the EUR.

As for today, a batch of data is expected from the European economies. The French Preliminary Non-Farm Payrolls will be released, and analysts forecast that 0.7% people have lost their jobs during the previous quarter in France. The European Consumer Prices Indices are also expected today, and are predicted to deliver mixed results. It currently seems that if the actual results will be similar to forecasts, the EUR may drop slightly due to the overall negative figures.

JPY - Yen Rises on Asian Equity Rally

The JPY started yesterday's trading with bullish trends against all the major currencies. The Yen continued to rise against the Dollar, yet later on lost gains against the EUR and the Pound. The Yen soared against the major pairs as a rally in Asian stocks spurred demand for higher-yielding assets. The Bank of Japan stated yesterday that Japan's economic conditions have stopped worsening, and are likely to turn upward over time. This created positive sentiment which was reflected in Asian stock markets, and was followed by a strengthening Yen.

Yesterday, the Tertiary Industry Activity report showed that the total value of services purchased by business rose by 0.1% in June. This is another indication that Japanese consumers feel safer to enlarge their expenses, which means that the general sentiment is that the economy is doing better. Looking ahead to today, no significant data is expected from the Japanese economy. Traders should mainly focus on the major data releases from the U.S economy, as this is likely set the tone for today's trading.

Crude Oil - Crude Oil Eyes $73 a Barrel

Crude Oil continued to rise yesterday, marking the second consecutive day of rising prices. A barrel of Crude Oil rose to over $72 during yesterday's trading session, and now eyes $73 a barrel. Crude was helped by a weak USD Dollar, as the commodity is valued in Dollars, and thus a drop of the Dollar against the major currencies is usually followed by a rise in commodities prices, especially Oil.

The rise in Crude Oil and the weak USD was largely due U.S equities rallying to a 10-month high, and the German and French economies delivering better than expected data. What seems to be an early recovery for the leading western economies has sparked optimism for a rebound in fuel demand. It currently seems that every positive economic figure from the U.S or the Euro-Zone may spark an appreciation in Oil prices, as expectations for higher fuel demand are constantly growing.

Article Source - Dollar Anticipates Release of U.S. Core CPI