he Australian dollar that closed Monday's North American session at 1.9168 against the European currency touched a 4-day low of 1.9466 at 4:50 am ET Tuesday. The next downside target level for the Aussie is seen around 1.962.
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he Australian dollar that closed Monday's North American session at 1.9168 against the European currency touched a 4-day low of 1.9466 at 4:50 am ET Tuesday. The next downside target level for the Aussie is seen around 1.962.
Japan automobile sales grew at a pace of 15% year-on-year in July to 333,403 units, the Japan Automobile Dealers Association said Monday. In June, sales showed an annual growth of 20.6%. Sale of cars, trucks and buses excluding minicars in July totaled 333,403 units.
Toyota sold 161,444 units, up 19.1% from the prior year. Sales of Honda Motor increased 14.5% to 50,448 units. Nissan recorded only 2.3% increase in sales, now at 50,719. However, overall auto sales are expected ease in the months ahead as the government incentives to boost sales expire at the end of September.
Japan Automobile Manufacturers Association on July 30 said auto production increased 25.9% in June. Domestic sales climbed 17.4% to 448,831 vehicles. Overall auto production in the first half of 2010 surged 45.8%.
News are provided by InstaForex.
Manufacturing activity in the month of July expanded at a slower pace than in the previous month, the Institute for Supply Management revealed in a report on Monday, although the index of activity in the sector fell by less than economists had expected.
The ISM said its manufacturing index fell to a reading of 55.5 in July from 56.2 in June, with a reading above 50 indicating continued growth in the sector. Economists had expected the index to show a more notable decrease to a reading of 54.2.
Norbert J. Ore, chair of the ISM Manufacturing Business Survey Committee, said, "July marks 12 consecutive months of growth in manufacturing, and indications are that demand is still quite strong in 10 of 18 industries."
The slowdown in the pace of growth in the manufacturing sector reflected a deceleration in new orders and production, with the new orders index slipping to 53.5 in July from 58.5 in June and the production index falling to 57.0 from 61.4.
On the other hand, the employment index edged up to 58.6 in July from 57.8 in June, indicating a modest acceleration in the pace of employment growth in the sector. The index indicated the eighth consecutive month of growth in manufacturing employment.
The report also showed a turnaround for inventories, with the inventories index jumping to 50.2 in July from 45.8 in June. With the increase, the index rose above 50 for the first time since March.
With regard to inflation, the ISM said that the prices index edged up to 57.5 in July from 57.0 in June, pointing to the thirteenth consecutive month of price growth.
Paul Dales, U.S. economist at Capital Economics, said that the smaller than expected decrease by the headline manufacturing index is "consistent with a further modest easing in economic activity rather than newfound economic malaise."
"Admittedly, in just three months the index has dropped by 5 points, signaling a sharp slowdown in growth," Dales added. "But the key point is that it is falling from a very high level. Even after July's dip, it is still consistent with annualized GDP growth of around 4%."
On Wednesday, the ISM is scheduled to release a separate report on activity in the service sector, with the index of activity in the sector expected to edge down to 53.0 in July from 53.8 in June.
News are provided by InstaForex.
The euro pulled back sharply on Tuesday as signs that China's robust economy is cooling off caused a return to risk aversion.
Stocks were lower around the global today ahead of the latest interest rate announcement from the Federal Reserve.
Appetite for risk had been helping the euro rally until this week, when anxiety about the pace of the global economic recovery took hold.
The euro slipped to 1.3073 versus the dollar, down from last week's 3-month peak of 1.3333.
Versus the yen, the euro dropped to a 10-day low of Y112.27.
The single currency also tailed off versus the sterling, dropping to 0.8310 from a 10-day high of 0.8362.
The Conference Board leading economic index for the U.K. rose 0.5% in June from May, following the 0.2% increase in the previous month, the Conference Board said on Tuesday.
This marks the 15th straight month in which the leading index has risen.
Elsewhere, data showed China's July imports grew at the slowest pace since November, missing economists' forecasts.
And property prices in 70 major Chinese cities climbed 10.3 percent from a year earlier in July, the slowest pace for six months
This afternoon, the US monetary policy makers are widely expected to keep the nation's key interest rate near zero percent and signal concerns about deflation and downside risks to economic growth.
News are provided by InstaForex.
The dollar was mixed Friday morning in New York ahead of a slew of economic data related to inflation and the mindset of the US consumer.
Risk aversion and slumping stocks have helped the dollar find its footing against most majors this week, but the buck hit a 15-year low against the yen on Wednesday and has failed to improve much since.
The Labor Department will table the consumer price index for July at 8.30 a.m. ET. Economists expect that inflation rose 0.2% for July following the 0.1% decline in the previous month, while core inflation, excluding food and energy, is expected to be 0.1% following a 0.2% rate in June.
At the same time, the Commerce Department will release its report on retail sales for July. Economists expect that retail sales rose 0.5% for the month following 0.5% decline in the previous month.
At 9.55 a.m. ET, the preliminary report of the Reuters/University of Michigan's consumer sentiment survey for August will be released. Economists expect the consumer sentiment index to increase to 70 from July's 67.80.
The buck was steady near 1.2800 versus the euro, having rebounded nicely this week after touching a 3-month low of 1.3333 last Friday.
Eurozone gross domestic product grew at a faster pace of 1% sequentially in the second quarter, following a 0.2% rise in the first quarter, flash estimates published by Eurostat showed Friday.
The dollar also held its ground versus the sterling, staying near 1.5600. A week ago, the buck was at a 6-month low of 1.5998.
The buck remained stuck in the mud versus the yen, as the Japanese currency remains the preferred safe haven option. The pair was at Y85.73, near the dollar's 15-year low of 84.71.
News are provided by InstaForex.
The European Commission on Monday proposed to amend existing rules on the supervision of financial conglomerates as part of making the financial system resilient against future crisis.
"Drawing lessons from the financial crisis, the Commission proposes to equip national financial supervisors with new powers to better oversee the conglomerates' parent entities, such as holding companies," the Commission said in a statement.
The changed rules will allow supervisors to apply banking supervision, insurance supervision and supplementary supervision at the same time, thereby remedying to unintended loopholes identified in the context of the financial crisis, the Commission said. In this way, supervisors would be getting better information at an earlier stage of a trouble and allows them to be better equipped to intervene.
The proposal will be passed to member states and the European Parliament for consideration. Financial conglomerates are financial groups that are usually active in more than one country and operate in both the insurance and banking businesses.
News are provided by InstaForex.
The world economic climate looks slightly clouded in the third quarter of 2010, latest survey results from the Ifo Institute for Economic Research showed Wednesday.
The think tank said its world economic climate indicator fell to 103.2 in the third quarter from 104.1 in the second quarter. It suggests that the recovery of world economic activity will continue at a slower pace in the second half of the year, the Munich-based Ifo said.
The world economic climate indicator fell in North America and in Asia, but rose in Western Europe. In North America, the assessments of the current economic situation were more favorable than in the previous survey and expectations for the coming six months were less optimistic. In Asia, the favorable economic situation has improved further, but the optimism for the next half year has declined somewhat.
In Western Europe, the assessments of the current economic situation have improved more clearly than the worldwide average. Since the six-month economic outlook has not clouded so strongly, the climate indicator as a whole rose marginally, the think tank said.
Although the surveyed experts have given better assessments of the current economic situation than in the first half of 2010, the economic expectations for the coming six months have been revised downwards. The corresponding indicator declined to 112.3 from 126.3.
In contrast to the previous surveys, the euro was assessed as slightly undervalued against the U.S. dollar. Overall, in the coming six months, after adjustments have occurred, the experts foresee largely stable exchange rates for the four major world currencies, the euro, the U.S. dollar, the Japanese yen and the British pound, Ifo said.
News are provided by InstaForex.
The euro was taking yet another beating on Tuesday, but snapped back after the release of data suggesting the US housing market is in even worse shape than the most pessimistic economists have feared.
Before finding its footing, the euro dropped to its lowest since 2001 versus the yen, and extended its steep recent losses versus the dollar.
Stocks continued to sell off, and commodity prices fell further on renewed risk aversion.
A mixed bag of economic data from Europe failed to generate any confidence that the region is on a path toward a sustainable recovery.
Euro zone industrial new orders rose by 2.5% month-on-month in June, slower than the revised 4.1% growth in the prior month, the European Union's statistical agency Eurostat said on Tuesday.
The German economy logged its biggest expansion since its 1991 reunification' in the second quarter. The economy grew by a seasonally adjusted 2.2% sequentially in the second quarter.
The euro dropped to a 7-week low of $1.2586 in early dealing versus the dollar, but stormed back to $1.2715 after industry data showed a record drop in US existing home sales.
The National Association of Realtors said existing home sales fell by 27.2 percent to an annual rate of 3.83 million units in July from a downwardly revised 5.26 million unit rate in June.
The euro fell to a more than 8-year low of Y105.41 versus the yen, then improved to Y106.45. At the same time, the US dollar fell to its lowest since 1995 versus the yen, which has become the preferred safe haven option.
News are provided by InstaForex.
The dollar struggled for direction Monday morning as traders contined to digest Friday's remarks from Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke, who said the US economic recovery is on track.
Still, this week's deluge of data is likely to confirm that the economy is slowing down. In addition to the government's monthly jobs report, traders will be treated to data on the pending homes sales, manufacturing, and consumer confidence.
US personal spending is estimated to have risen by 0.3% in July, helped by a small bounce in core retail sales and solid auto sales. At the same time, economists estimate a 0.2% increase in personal income.
The dollar came under pressure versus the yen in early dealing, giving back most of its rebound from the previous session. The buck slipped to 84.60, moving back towards a recent 15-year low of 83.63.
The Bank of Japan announced an expansion to its low-interest lending program after an extraordinary policy board meeting on Monday. At the same time, the bank also maintained its key interest rate at near-zero.
The buck firmed a bit versus the euro, improving to $1.2700 from $1.2765. At the same time, the dollar remained stuck in the mud near $1.5550 against the sterling.
The British Chambers of Commerce hiked U.K.'s 2010 GDP growth forecast to 1.7% from the earlier 1.3%. Similarly for 2011, the Chamber upped its forecast to 2.2% from the 2% predicted in June.
Eurozone economic confidence rose in August to 101.8 from 101.1 in July, a monthly survey from the European Commission showed Monday. The economic sentiment index remained above its long-term average and expected reading of 101.6.
News are provided by InstaForex.
The dollar continued to hover around a 15-year low versus the yen but eked out gains versus the euro Tuesday morning in New York, as traders returned to their desks following the Labor Day weekend.
Stocks rose on Friday after better-than-expected jobs data, but momentum has not carried over into this week. Stocks are down around the world this morning amid renewed fears about the European banking system.
The dollar was again testing its worst levels since 1995 versus the yen, slipping to 83.80 in very early dealing. Two weeks ago, the dollar hit a 15-year low of 83.58.
The Bank of Japan maintained its key interest rate at near-zero at the end of its two-day policy meeting on Tuesday. It also promised to take more policy actions if judged necessary to kick start the deflation-ravaged economy.
Still, the markets have considered the BoJ's recent moves far too tepid to either bolster the economy or stop the yen from rising further.
Germany's factory orders declined 2.2% in July from the prior month, the Federal Ministry of Economics and Technology said on Tuesday. Economists were expecting factory orders to rise 0.5%.
The dollar rose to 1.2750 versus the euro, up a penny from Monday morning. The pair has been unable to sustain any direction for the past month.
The buck bounced back and forth near 1.5360 versus the sterling, having edged higher over the past few weeks.
News are provided by InstaForex.