US Manufacturing falls in October. US Dollar mixed in Forex Trading. | CountingPips Forex Blog

November 3, 2008 - Forex Economic News

US Manufacturing falls in October. US Dollar mixed in Forex Trading.

U.S. manufacturing activity declined by 4.6 percentage points in the month of October according to a report released today by the Institute for Supply Management. The Manufacturing ISM Report On Business showed that its index for manufacturing activity fell to 38.9 percent in October down from 43.5 percent in September and marked the lowest level of USD mixed in forex trading the index since September of 1982. An index score of less than 50 percent means that the manufacturing sector has contracted for that month while above 50 percent signals growth.

The manufacturing index showed that the overall economy contracted for the first time in October after 83 straight months of economic growth. October's decline in manufacturing activity was below market forecasts expecting a 42.0 percent score for the month.

Chairman of the ISM Business Survey Committee, Norbert J. Ore, commented in the report on the latest data, "The PMI indicates a significantly faster rate of decline in manufacturing when comparing October to September. It appears that manufacturing is experiencing significant demand destruction as a result of recent events, with members indicating challenges associated with the financial crisis, interruptions from the Gulf hurricane, and the lagging impact from higher oil prices. This is the lowest level for the PMI since September 1982 when it registered 38.8 percent."

Construction spending lower in September.

U.S. Construction Spending edged down in September by 0.3 percent following an increase of 0.3 percent in August according to data released by the U.S. Commerce Department. The market expectations were for a 0.8 percent fall in construction spending. On an annual basis, construction spending is 6.6 percent lower than the September 2007 level. Contributing to the decreased spending was a decline in residential construction which fell by 1.3 percent in September. Private nonresidential construction spending contributed positively to the data as this sector showed an increase of 1.2 percent for the month.

US Dollar mixed in forex trading today.

The U.S. dollar has been mixed against the major currencies in forex trading today as it has gained against the euro, pound, and Swiss franc while losing ground to the yen, loonie, aussie and kiwi. The EUR/USD has tumbled today from its 1.2861 opening(00:00 GMT) to trading at 1.2646 in the afternoon of the U.S. trading session at 4:15pm ET. The GBP/USD, meanwhile, has fallen from its 1.6081 opening exchange rate to trading at 1.5829 later today. The dollar has declined verses the Japanese yen and trading at 99.16 after opening at 99.31. The USD/CAD is back over the 1.2100 threshold today and trading at the exchange rate of 1.2193. The USD/CAD has fallen over 100 pips from its 1.1959 opening. The dollar has gained against the Swiss franc as the USD/CHF trades at 1.1742 while after opening at 1.1488. The dollar, meanwhile, has fallen against both the Australian dollar and New Zealand dollar. The AUD/USD trades at 0.6782 while the NZD/USD trades at 0.5931 today.

USD/CAD Chart - The US Dollar declining today against the Canadian Loonie(Daily Chart).

Today's Forex Chart

tags: manufacturing, construction spending, forex market

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