Disappointing durables sees Dollar slip
The US Dollar slipped back yesterday following a worse than expected US durable goods number. Official figures showed that industrial orders fell by 4.9% in July, following a 1.9% increase in June.
July's fall was the biggest amount since January 2004. Analysts had been expecting a more modest 1.5% decline, with the figure released putting some serious pressure on the Greenback.
The USD slide yesterday showed some recovery later in the day on news that sales of new US homes surged by 6.5% in July to a record seasonally adjusted annual rate of 1.41 million. New homes sales in the States are up 27.7% since July 2004!
Overnight oil prices surged to a record high of $68 a barrel - the highest since U.S. crude futures started trade in 1983.
Oil prices were hounded by supply concerns due to a growing threat to oil facilities from an Atlantic storm and a large fall in U.S. gasoline stocks. Gasoline stockpiles in the US, the world's top oil consumer (surprise, surprise), beat forecasts to register a slide of 3.2 million barrels in the week to August 19, widening the supply gap from a year ago.
August is peak driving season in the States with every man & his dog out on the highways in their 10-gallon Hummer sucking up a litre of petrol a second. The US Dollar opens understandably weaker this morning on the back of the record oil price, with little comfort on the horizon for prices to pull back soon.
Back on old Blighty, yesterday’s CBI survey revealed UK manufacturing orders fell at its fastest rate since October 2003. Whilst export orders remain steady, domestic demand has shown an obvious down-turn. With UK retail sales showing recent weakness, this is not entirely surprising. The UK manufacturing sector is at a stand still in comparison to robust growth in other parts of the world.
On the economic data front today, we have Germany’s IFO business climate index due out this morning. A positive number is expected here, in line with Tuesday’s better-than-expected ZEW business survey figure. The obvious benefactor of a good IFO index is the Euro, with the USD being the likely currency to suffer.
With nothing out of the UK to excite the masses (except the cricket of course), attention today then turns to the US weekly jobless claims figure and August’s Michigan Sentiment final reading.
July's fall was the biggest amount since January 2004. Analysts had been expecting a more modest 1.5% decline, with the figure released putting some serious pressure on the Greenback.
The USD slide yesterday showed some recovery later in the day on news that sales of new US homes surged by 6.5% in July to a record seasonally adjusted annual rate of 1.41 million. New homes sales in the States are up 27.7% since July 2004!
Overnight oil prices surged to a record high of $68 a barrel - the highest since U.S. crude futures started trade in 1983.
Oil prices were hounded by supply concerns due to a growing threat to oil facilities from an Atlantic storm and a large fall in U.S. gasoline stocks. Gasoline stockpiles in the US, the world's top oil consumer (surprise, surprise), beat forecasts to register a slide of 3.2 million barrels in the week to August 19, widening the supply gap from a year ago.
August is peak driving season in the States with every man & his dog out on the highways in their 10-gallon Hummer sucking up a litre of petrol a second. The US Dollar opens understandably weaker this morning on the back of the record oil price, with little comfort on the horizon for prices to pull back soon.
Back on old Blighty, yesterday’s CBI survey revealed UK manufacturing orders fell at its fastest rate since October 2003. Whilst export orders remain steady, domestic demand has shown an obvious down-turn. With UK retail sales showing recent weakness, this is not entirely surprising. The UK manufacturing sector is at a stand still in comparison to robust growth in other parts of the world.
On the economic data front today, we have Germany’s IFO business climate index due out this morning. A positive number is expected here, in line with Tuesday’s better-than-expected ZEW business survey figure. The obvious benefactor of a good IFO index is the Euro, with the USD being the likely currency to suffer.
With nothing out of the UK to excite the masses (except the cricket of course), attention today then turns to the US weekly jobless claims figure and August’s Michigan Sentiment final reading.
posted by Wise Money @ 10:07 AM
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