USD: Good Retail Sales, But Oil Concerns Linger
Fri, Jun 13 2008, 01:20 GMT
by Andrei Pehar
Next fundamental news will be commented on 26th June
Retail sales came in better than expected today, posting an
increase of 1.0% - double the figure analysts were expecting, and a 0.6%
increase over the prior month. Core retail sales (which excludes autos)
came in at 1.2%, with the prior month being revised up to 1.0%; analysts had
been expecting only a slight gain of 0.7%.
The positive news caused a momentary Dollar rally, causing the EUR/USD to drop
by nearly 40 pips. The optimism was short-lived, however, and the EUR/USD
resumed its climb just minutes later. Oil remains the primary concern...
currently at $136.56 and just below its all-time high, with fear of further
supply disruptions in the Nigerian delta and declining US crude oil
inventories, dropping by 4.6 million barrels for the second month in a row.
