US: Retail sales for August expected to increase by 0.3% - Danske Bank

Sandeep Kanihama FXStreet Contributor

Analysts at Danske Bank suggest that following the upward surprise in US CPI inflation yesterday, focus on the macro front today turns to US retail sales for August, which they estimate increased by 0.3%.

Key Quotes

“Preliminary consumer confidence for September from the University of Michigan is also released. Like business confidence, consumer confidence is still very high, but Hurricane Harvey and an unstable political environment within the US may have weighed on it and we estimate a slight fall to 95.0. Also, keep an eye on the five- to 10-year inflation expectations in the survey. They trended lower during 2015 and 2016 but have moved sideways at around 2.5% for a year now.”

“The US Empire index (business confidence) is likely to retreat a bit in September after hitting the highest level in three years in August. The indicator is quite volatile and the August level was likely to be 'too strong' relative to the underlying development. US industrial production for August is also due and estimated to increase 0.1% m/m.”

Author

Sandeep Kanihama

FXStreet Contributor

Sandeep Kanihama is an FX Editor and Analyst with FXstreet having principally focus area on Asia and European markets with commodity, currency and equities coverage. He is stationed in the Indian capital city of Delhi.

EUR/USD flirts with weekly lows near 1.1770

EUR/USD now comes under further selling pressure, breaking below the 1.1800 support to challenge the area of weekly throughs near 1.1770 on Thursday. The pair’s decline comes in response to marked gains in the US Dollar amid steady geopolitical tensions. Ealier in the day, the ECB’s Lagarde delivered cautious remarks, although the currency remained apathetic.

GBP/USD makes a U-turn, challenges 1.3500

GBP/USD rapidly leaves behind Wednesday’s strong advance, putting the 1.3500 support to the test on Thursday. Cable’s deep pullback follows the strong gains in the Greenback, while investors continue to pencil in a potential BoE rate cut in March.

Gold sticks to the bid bias, flirts with $5,200

Gold is now facing some downside pressure, hovering around the $5,170 region on Thursday. The precious metal adds to Wednesday’s optimism despite the Greenback trades in a firm fashion, although geopolitical tensions in the Middle East keep the yellow metal bid for now.