Canada's retail sales were flat in March following 0.8 percent growth recorded in February, Statistics Canada said in a report on Wednesday.
The Canadian dollar edged lower against its major counterparts after the report. As of 8:35 am ET, the loonie was trading at 1.0309 against the greenback, 99.95 against the yen and 1.3329 against the euro.
The Australian dollar advanced against other major currencies in Asian deals on Monday, as sentiment improved after the U.S. and Russia reached deal to remove Syria's chemical weapons and Lawrence Summers pulled out from race to Fed's top post.
Summers on Sunday notified President Barack Obama that he was withdrawing his name from consideration to replace Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke when the latter's term expires at the end of January.
"I have reluctantly concluded that any possible confirmation process for me would be acrimonious and would not serve the interests of the Federal Reserve, the administration or ultimately, the interests of the nation's ongoing economic recovery," Summers wrote.
Vice Chair Janet Yellen, who favor a slower reduction of asset purchases, now becomes the clear-cut favorite for the job.
Over the weekend, the U.S. and Russia agreed on a deal to eliminate Syria's chemical weapons by mid-2014.
The framework deal requires Syria to furnish full details of its stockpile within a week. The U.S said that non-compliance, including unauthorized transfer, or any use of chemical weapons by anyone in Syria, the UN Security Council should impose measures under Chapter VII of the UN Charter.
The aussie appreciated to 0.9390 against the greenback, highest since June 19. The next resistance for the aussie-greenback pair lies at the 0.95 level. The pair was worth 0.9244 at yesterday's close.
The aussie that ended Friday's trading at 1.1369 against the NZ dollar advanced to a 4-day high of 1.1419. The aussie may face resistance around the 1.15 level.
New Zealand house sales dipped 3.4 percent to 6,548 in August, compared to the previous month, the Real Estate Institute of New Zealand said today. That follows the 0.5 percent contraction in July.
The aussie advanced to a 4-day high of 92.76 against the yen, up by 1.2 percent from last week's multi-day low of 91.69. On the upside, the aussie may probably seek resistance at the 93.6 level.
The aussie spiked up to more than 2-month high of 0.9680 against the loonie, which is up from Friday's closing quote of 0.9569. The aussie is likely to test resistance at the 0.98 level.
The aussie reached 1.4236 against the euro, a level unseen since July 24 and an increase of 1 percent from last week's close of 1.4381. The next upside target for the aussie lies at the 1.41 level.
Looking ahead, Eurozone final inflation for August is due in the European session.
The U.S. industrial production and Canada existing home sales for August are set for release in the New York session.
2013-09-16 09:49
The U. S. jobless claims dropped to 292,000 the week ended September 7th from 323,000 in the previous week. Economists expected claims to increase to 330,000 in the week. news.instaforex.com »
2013-09-12 17:42
The Swiss franc drifted weaker in early European deals on Tuesday despite a report showed that the nation's economic growth in the second quarter slowed less-than that of economists' predictions, largely due to positive contributions from private spending and investment.
According to figures published by the State Secretariat for Economic Affairs (SECO), the real gross domestic product expanded 0.5 percent sequentially, which was forecast to fall to 0.3 percent from the prior quarter's 0.6 percent growth.
As seen in the previous quarter, household spending gained 0.6 percent. Moreover, investment recovered strongly in the second quarter, up 1.4 percent after falling 0.2 percent. On a yearly basis, economic growth more than doubled to 2.5 percent from 1.2 percent a quarter ago.
Easing concerns over an imminent U.S. strike on Syria and further signs of economic improvement across the globe lifted the risk-associated currencies' values in the foreign exchange market on Tuesday.
The U.S. President Barack Obama's decision to carry out a limited air strike against Syria may be delayed until at least next week as Republican Senators John McCain and Lindsey Graham said they have more confidence the White House is developing a better strategy to back use of military force.
Equities also rallied after official data indicated another month of reasonably solid growth in Chinese service sector, with the non-manufacturing purchasing managers' index easing slightly to 53.9 last month from 54.1 in July.
Meanwhile, the British Retail Consortium said retail sales in the U.K. increased at a weaker-than-expected rate in August after an exceptional July. Sales value increased 1.8 percent year-over-year on a like-for-like basis, falling below expectations for 2.4 percent growth but keeping well above the 12-month average.
Elsewhere, the total labor cash earnings in Japan increased for a second consecutive month in July, albeit at a slower pace, data from the Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare showed today. Total wages increased 0.4 percent year-on-year in July, following a 0.6 percent increase in June and a 0.1 percent decrease in May.
At the same time, the Reserve Bank of Australia decided to keep the benchmark cash rate unchanged at a record-low of 2.5 percent, with a possible depreciation of the currency expected to facilitate rebalancing of the economy.
Investors await a slew of reports on U.K. construction activity, producer prices from the euro area and U.S. ISM manufacturing all due out later in the day for further clues on the health of the global economy.
The Swiss franc slipped to 1.4584 against the pound around 2:45 am ET, having extended its strong sell-offs since its failed test of 1.42 resistance on August 28. With the GBP/CHF currency cross is staying well-above its 200-day simple moving average level, the franc is poised to extend its downtrend beyond 1.46 support in the near-term to set its lowest level since June 10.
The franc also fell to a fresh 2-week low of 0.9374 against the US dollar following the GDP numbers, pushing the local unit closer to the pivotal 0.94 area, a level not seen since August 15. The franc has been trading lower since its failure to challenge resistance around the 0.9140/50 area on August 20.
The Switzerland currency dropped to a weekly low of 1.2343 against the euro and a session's low of 106.21 against the yen following the data. The next bearish barrier for the Swiss franc is seen around the 1.2360 against the former and 106.0 against the latter, as CHF/JPY pair is receding well-below from a trend-line resistance of a symmetrical triangle.
2013-09-03 12:42
The US dollar showed mixed performance in early New York deals on Wednesday, ahead of the U.S. FOMC minutes that is expected to provide fresh clues on Fed's stimulus exit strategy.
Traders will look closely at the minutes of its July 30-31 FOMC meeting to be released at 2 pm ET, for clues on the precise timing and scale of any tapering by the Federal Reserve. Many market participants expect the Fed to announce a reduction to its asset purchases at its September 17-18 policy meeting.
Ahead of the minutes, the National Association of Realtors is scheduled to release its existing home sales report for July at 10:00 am ET. Economists expect existing home sales to come in at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 5.150 million units.
The Energy Information Administration is due to release its petroleum inventory report for the week ended August 16th at 10:30 am ET.
Elsewhere, the Bank of Japan Governor Haruhiko Kuroda repeated his earlier remarks that the central bank would not hesitate to provide further stimulus in order to prevent the economy from slipping back into deflation.
The dollar dropped back to below the pivotal 1.57 level against the pound after a gap of more than 2-months, down by more than 0.2 percent from its overnight closing value of 1.5666.
The key support for the greenback is seen around the 1.5750/50 area and the likelihood of breaking this point could sent the U.S. currency to its weakest level against the sterling since February 11.
The dollar, however, advanced against the euro in early New York trading on Wednesday. The greenback climbed to 1.3381 against the common currency, bouncing back from yesterday's fresh multi-month lows of 1.3451.
The dollar rebounded to above 0.92 against the Swiss franc, after having dropped briefly below the key 0.9150 support for the first time after a gap of more than 2-months on Wednesday. If the present bounce persists for the greenback-franc pair, 0.9230 is seen as the next likely resistance level in the near-term.
The greenback traded in narrow ranges against the yen in early deals, moving between a high of 97.55 and a low of 97.37. The broader technical picture shows indecision in the near-term as the pair is swinging back and forth in a descending triangle, but nowhere near the trend-line support/resistance areas.
2013-08-21 17:42
The Japanese currency extended previous session's uptrend across the board in early European deals on Tuesday as a fall in European equities prompted traders to flee from riskier assets to safe-haven yen.
The yen rose to 5-day highs of 154.96 against the pound, 100.97 against the Australian dollar, 83.84 against the NZ dollar, 4-day highs of 101.26 against the US dollar and 100.22 against the Canadian dollar around 3:45 am ET. The Japanese unit also advanced to a session's high of 131.59 against the euro and 106.18 against the Swiss franc around the same time.
On the upside, the yen may find resistance levels at 131.15 against the euro, 100.60 against the greenback, 153.80 against the pound, 105.80 against the Swiss franc, 100.40 against the aussie, 83.15 against the kiwi and 100.0 against the loonie.
2013-05-14 12:42
The Chinese yuan strengthened against the U.S. dollar in late Asian deals on Wednesday, as the People's Bank of China set the currency's reference rate at the highest level since January 15.
The yuan reached 6.2123 per dollar, the level not seen since December 14, 2012. The yuan thus appreciated 0.13 percent against the greenback from yesterday's close of 6.2202. If the yuan advances further, it will break last year's peak of 6.2087.
The PBOC set today's central parity rate for the yuan at 6.2716 per dollar, up from Tuesday's daily reference rate of 6.2758. The Chinese central bank sets the central parity rate every morning and allows the currency to fluctuate up to 1 % from the level.
2013-03-20 10:32
The euro eased from its early highs against other other major currencies in the early European session on Thursday after the release of weaker-than-expected French PMI data and Spanish jobless rate for the fourth quarter. news.instaforex.com »
2013-01-24 12:42