U.S. Forex News - PPI rises, Empire State survey jumps in April. Dollar gains. | CountingPips Forex & Currency Trading Blog

April 15, 2008 - Forex Economic News

U.S. Forex News - PPI rises, Empire State survey jumps in April. Dollar gains.

U.S. producer prices increased unexpectedly in March according to a report released today by the U.S. Labor Department. Producer prices or wholesale inflation increased by 1.1 percent in March following a 0.3 percent increase in February and a 1.0 percent gain in January. The economic forecasts for the ppi numbers were expecting a 0.7 percent increase. March's year-over-year rate increased to 6.9 percent from February's year-over-year 6.4 percent gain. Core ppi, excluding volatile energy and food costs, increased by 0.2 percent in March and registered a year-over-year increase of 2.7 percent. Contributing to the ppi rise was an increase in energy prices which rose by 2.9 percent in March and food prices which increased by 1.2 percent in March.

New York manufacturing activity rebounded in April after dropping the last couple of months and beat market forecasts expecting another negative score. According to data released by the New York Federal Reserve, the Empire State Manufacturing Survey showed that the general business index in New York increased by 23 points in April to post a 0.6 score. The survey had registered its lowest all time score in March with a -22.2 score and economic forecasts were expecting a -18.0 score in April. The April new orders index increased to a score of 0.1, the shipments index gained by 23 points and the unfilled orders index fell by 7 points to a -6.3 score. The prices paid index, a barometer of inflation, increased in April to its highest level since November 2005 at 57.3. The future outlook index fell in April despite the increases in most other areas. The future business conditions index dropped to a 19.6 score but future new orders increased to a 33.3 score. April's 0.6 general business score is the first positive score in the index since January. The Empire State Manufacturing Survey is a monthly business assessment of New York State manufacturers produced by the New York Federal Reserve.

The U.S. dollar has reacted positively to today's news releases and has been gaining ground against the other major currencies in forex market trading. The dollar has gained value against the euro today reaching 1.5754 dollars per euro after hitting an all time low verses the euro at 1.5912 dollars per euro on April 10th. The dollar has also traded higher against the pound sterling as it has reached its highest trading level since late February at 1.9604 dollars per pound. The dollar has also posted gains verses the Japanese yen, Swiss franc, Australian dollar and the New Zealand kiwi in the U.S. session trading today.

Tags: ppi, producer prices, inflation, empire state, new york manufacturing, usd, jpy, yen, euro, gbp, aud, nzd, chf

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