US Retail Sales fall record amount in October, US Dollar gains in Fx Trading. | CountingPips Forex Blog

November 14, 2008 - Forex Economic News

US Retail Sales fall record amount in October, US Dollar gains in Fx Trading.

U.S. Retail Sales decreased more than expected in October according to a report by the U.S. Commerce Department released today. Advance estimates of October retail sales showed that sales decreased by 2.8 percent to $363.7 billion from September. Market forecasts were expecting a decline of 2.1 percent in October following September's revised decrease of 1.3 percent. October's sales decline fell the most on record, surpassing November 2001's drop of USD rises in Foreign Currency Trading 2.65 percent in retail sales.

On an annual basis, retail sales have fallen 4.1 percent below the October 2007 level. October's retail sales numbers were weighted down by a 5.5 percent decrease in automobile sales, a 2.5 percent decrease in furniture & home furnishings stores and a 12.7 percent decrease in gasoline station sales.

Health & personal care stores and miscellaneous stores retailers provided a positive contribution to the October report as these sectors showed increases by 0.4 percent and 0.7 percent, respectively.

Retail sales excluding automobiles fell by 2.2 percent in October following September's revised 0.5 percent decline and surpassed forecasts expecting sales minus automobiles to register only a 1.2 percent decrease. On an annual basis, retail sales minus automobiles has advanced by 1.0 percent over the October 2007 level.

University of Michigan/Reuters survey rises in November.

The preliminary consumer sentiment survey by the University of Michigan and Reuters edged up a bit to a 57.9 score in November following October's final score of 57.6. The preliminary report does not include the full total of survey responses and is released in a finalized version later in the month. The preliminary expectations index, which measures future economic sentiment, decreased from 57.0 in October to 55.7 this month. The current conditions index, which registered 58.4 in October, increased to 61.4 in November. The survey results were better than market forecasts which predicted the survey to register approximately 56.7. Inflation expectations dropped considerably in November as the price of gasoline has fallen dramatically as this month's inflation expectations fell to 2.9 percent from 3.9 percent in October. The final November version of the survey is scheduled to be released on Wednesday November 26th.

Dollar rises in fx trading today.

The U.S. dollar has made gains in fx trading today despite the record drop in retail sales as it has gained against the euro, pound, loonie, aussie, kiwi and Swiss franc while falling verses the Japanese yen.

The EUR/USD has declined today from its 1.2726 opening(00:00 GMT) to trading at 1.2673 near the end of the U.S. trading session at 4:10pm ET.The GBP/USD, meanwhile, has almost fallen today by approximately 75 pips from its 1.4825 opening exchange rate to trading at 1.4747 later today. The dollar has declined verses the Japanese yen and trading at 96.87 after opening at 97.09.

The USD/CAD advanced today and trades at the exchange rate of 1.2275. The USD/CAD has gained almost 90 pips from its 1.2187 opening. The dollar has gained against the Swiss franc as the USD/CHF trades at 1.1920 after opening at 1.1894 today while the dollar has also gained against the Australian dollar and New Zealand dollar. The AUD/USD trades at 0.6495 after an 0.6567 opening while the NZD/USD trades at 0.5531 today after opening at 0.5640.

USD/CAD Chart - The US Dollar advanced today against the Canadian Dollar despite the record low retail sales data out of the US today(Daily Chart).

Today's Forex & Currency Trading Chart

tags: US Retail Sales, consumer confidence, forex market

Blog Index