A better Philadelphia Fed index fortified investor confidence and sent riskier assets, including the JPY-crosses, higher and the USD lower against most major currencies. The NY day got off to a shaky start, however, as weekly US jobless claims surprised with an increase to 576K from 561K instead of the forecast decline to 550K. Stock futures surrendered early gains and briefly turned negative, sending the USD higher and JPY-crosses lower. The 1000EDT data mostly exceeded upbeat expectations, with the Philadelphia Fed index of manufacturing sentiment rising to +4.2 from the prior -7.5, when an improvement to only -2.0 was expected. July US leading indicators were also a positive, coming in at +0.6%, just slightly below the forecast gains of +0.7%. With the better data in hand, stocks moved gradually higher and the USD came under mild selling pressure. The S&P 500 index gained about 1% on the day.
The USD was held to mostly narrow ranges in North American trading, with EUR/USD trading between about 1.4200/70, GBP/USD 1.6450/1.6530, and USDJPY 93.80/94.40. The CAD received a boost when a US investment house recommended buy the Loonie on the prospects for higher oil and commodity prices. USD/CAD fell from around 1.0990 to a low near 1.0860. EUR/JPY and other JPY-crosses mostly traded higher in line with recent correlations, but gold broke with recent patterns and lost about $1.50 to around $940.50/oz. despite the USD trading lower.
Upcoming Economic Data Releases (Asia Session) prior expected
- 8/20/2009 22:45 NZ Visitor Arrivals JUL -3.80% - -
- 8/21/2009 2:15 NZ Prime Minister Key Speaks in Sydney 21-Aug
- 8/21/2009 3:00 NZ Credit Card Spending (YoY) JUL -2.10% - -
- 8/21/2009 3:00 NZ Credit Card Spending for July 21-Aug
