Economic roundup - US Trade deficit shrinks, Dollar mixed in forex trading. | CountingPips Forex & Currency Trading Blog

August 12, 2008 - Forex Economic News

Economic roundup - US Trade deficit shrinks, Dollar mixed in forex trading.

The United States trade deficit fell more than expected in June according to a release by the Commerce Department today. The U.S. trade deficit in goods and services was $56.8 billion in June following a revised deficit of $59.2 billion in May. Market forecasts were expecting a deficit of around $61.5 billion for the month. The U.S. had a total of $164.4 billion worth of exports in June which was an increase of $6.4 billion over May's total. June also saw a rise in imports as it totaled $221.2 billion worth of imports compared with $217.2 billion in March for an increase of $3.9 billion for the month.

Fx Trading News The U.S. dollar has been relatively mixed in forex trading during the early U.S. session. The USD was losing some ground today against the euro after hitting a 5-month high overnight. The EUR/USD currency pair traded below the 1.4900 dollars per euro threshold for the first time since February 25th of this year before retreating back towards the 1.5000 level.

The dollar has also been giving back its gains today against some of the other currencies as well as the buck has fallen under 110.00 yen per dollar level against the Japanese currency and trading at approximately 109.80 today while also falling verses the Swiss franc(1.0850) and Canadian dollar(1.0650).

Economic Roundup - UK inflation grows, France trade deficit grows.

Out of the U.K., the consumser price index released by National Statistics was unchanged for the month of July following June's 0.7 percent rise but showed an annual rate increase of 4.4 percent over last July. The 4.4 percent annual rate of inflation is the highest level since 1992 and follows a 3.8 percent annual inflation rate from June. The report by National Statistics also showed that retail prices increased to an annual rate of 5.0 percent in July after a 4.6 percent annual rate in June.

France's trade deficit with the world grew in June to $4.4 billion euros following a revised deficit of $2.8 billion euros in May according to INSEE. The France consumer price index was also released by INSEE today and showed that the France cpi declined by 0.2 percent in July after a 0.4 percent increase in June. The annual rate of inflation for July stayed the same as June at the record level of 3.6 percent. Energy prices in France showed a gain of 18.5 percent in July over last year while food prices also showed an increased level
when compared to last year with a 6.4 percent rise.

Out of Canada, a report released by Statistics Canada showed that Canada's trade surplus with the world grew to C$5.8 Billion in June. This follows a trade surplus of C$5.2 billion in May. June's exports rose by 3.1 percent to $C43.2 billion with exports to the United States rising by 5.3 percent to $C32.8 billion. June's imports, rising for a third consecutive month, showed an increase in June by 2.0 percent to $C37.4 billion.

EUR/USD Chart - The EUR/USD traded below 1.4900 for the first time since February 25th today(4H chart) before heading back towards 1.5000.

Forex Chart

tags: forex, trade balance, inflation, economic news

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