Forex Roundup - UK Trade Deficit decreases in September. German ZEW survey falls. USD gains against majors in Forex Trading. | CountingPips Forex Blog

November 11, 2008 - Forex Economic News

Forex Roundup - UK Trade Deficit decreases in September. German ZEW survey falls. USD gains against majors in Forex Trading.

The United Kingdom's total trade deficit decreased in September according to a release by the Office of National Statistics today. The U.K.'s deficit on the trade of goods and services registered £3.9 billion in September following a revised £4.4 billion deficit in August. The deficit decrease was more than expected by the market as economic forecasts had predicted USD gains in Fx Trading. a deficit of £4.70 billion for the month.

The UK showed a deficit on the trade in goods of £7.5 billion in September which was down from £8.0 billion in August. The UK registered a surplus on the trade in services of £3.6 billion in September which matched the surplus registered in August. Exports increased in September by £0.6 billion while imports also increased by £0.1 billion. The U.K.'s deficit with the European Union totaled £3.0 billion while its deficit with the rest of the world excluding the EU was £4.5 billion in September.

German ZEW survey gains in November.

News out of Germany today, the ZEW Indicator of Economic Sentiment Survey was released and showed that economic sentiment edged up in November from October by 9.5 points. November's rise registered a -53.5 index score following October's -63.0 score. The survey improvement surpassed most economic forecasts that were expecting scores ranging from -58.0 to -62.0 for November. Despite the monthly increase, the survey is still considerably below the historical average for the index which is a positive score of 27.1.

The German current economic situation score for November declined by 14.5 points from -35.9 in October to a -50.4 score. Meanwhile, the expectatons score for the Eurozone increased for the month by 8.7 points to a -54.0 score and the current economic situation in the eurozone fell by 14.2 points to a -58.9 score.

ZEW President Prof. Dr. Wolfgang Franz commented in the report, "The earlier pessimistic expectations of the financial market experts are confirmed by the current economic development in Germany. The experts, however, seem hopeful that the collective actions of governments and central banks will mitigate the economic slowdown". The ZEW report is based on the survey of approximately 350 financial experts who provide opinions on Germany's future economic expectations in 6 months.

USD gains against most majors in Forex Trading.

The U.S. dollar has been rising in fx trading today as it has gained against the euro, pound, loonie, aussie, kiwi, Swiss franc while falling verses the Japanese yen. The EUR/USD has fallen today from its 1.2735 opening(00:00 GMT) to trading at 1.2542 in the afternoon of the U.S. trading session at 3:08pm ET. The GBP/USD, meanwhile, has fallen today by over 250 pips from its 1.5681 opening exchange rate to trading at 1.5412 later today. The dollar has declined verses the Japanese yen for a second straight day as the USD/JPY is trading at 97.79 after opening at approximately 98.11. The USD/CAD is back over the 1.2000 threshold today and trading at the exchange rate of 1.2023. The USD/CAD has gained almost 100 pips from its 1.1944 opening. The dollar has gained against the Swiss franc as the USD/CHF trades at 1.1867 while also gaining against the Australian dollar and New Zealand dollar. The AUD/USD trades at 0.6585 while the NZD/USD trades at 0.5751 today as both the aussie and kiwi are falling for the second straight day against the greenback.

EUR/USD Chart - The European Euro continues its fall against the US dollar today in forex trading for a second straight day as the EUR/USD approaches the 1.2500 level(Daily Chart).

Today's Forex Chart

tags: uk trade balance, ZEW survey, germany, euro, forex

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