US Weekly Jobless Claims fall. UK, German trade narrow. Dollar mixed in Forex Trading. | CountingPips Forex Blog

October 9, 2008 - Forex Economic News

US Weekly Jobless Claims fall. UK, German trade data. Dollar mixed in Forex Trading.

Weekly U.S. jobless claims declined in the week that ended on October 4th according to a release by the U.S. Labor Department today. Jobless claims fell by 20,000 workers to a total of 478,000 unemployed workers from the week prior's 498,000 unemployed workers. A 4-week USD mixed in Forex Trading moving average increased by 8,250 from the prior week to 482,500 workers. Meanwhile, workers continuing claims for unemployment benefits for the week ending September 27th increased by 56,000 to 3,659,000 unemployed workers while a four week moving average of continuing claims grew by 31,750 to 3,563,250.

Germany trade surplus declines. UK deficit more than expected.

Economic releases out of the Europe today were highlighted by trade balance figures from the EU's biggest economy of Germany and out of the United Kingdom. The German international trade balance registered a trade surplus of 10.6 billion euros in August down from a revised 13.8 billion euros in July according to data released from the Federal Statistical Office of Germany. Germany's trade surplus is also below the level of August 2007 which produced a surplus of 14.3 billion euros. Market forecasts had expected a surplus of 12.0 billion euros in August. Exports fell for the month by 0.5 percent to 75.7 billion euros while imports decreased by 2.5 percent to 65.1 billion euros. Compared to August 2007, exports have fallen by 2.5 percent while imports have risen by 2.6 percent.

The United Kingdom's total trade deficit with the world decreased in August according to a release by the Office of National Statistics. The U.K.'s deficit on the trade of goods and services reached £4.737 billion in August following a revised £4.763 billion deficit in July. The deficit increase was more than expected by the market as economic forecasts had predicted a deficit of £4.50 billion for the month.

The UK showed a deficit on the trade in goods of £8.2 billion in August matching the deficit in July. The UK registered a surplus on the trade in services of £3.5 billion in August which also matched the surplus registered in July. Exports decreased in August by £1.0 billion while imports decreased by £1.1 billion. The U.K.'s deficit with the European Union totaled £3.0 billion in August while its deficit with the rest of the world, excluding the EU, was £5.2 billion following a deficit of £4.8 billion in July.

Forex - US Dollar mixed in forex trading today.

The U.S. dollar has been mixed in forex trading today against the other major currencies. The euro, pound, yen, loonie and the Swiss franc have all declined verses the dollar while the aussie and kiwi dollars have advanced today against the American currency. The EUR/USD pair has declined from today's opening rate of 1.3651 dollars per euro to trading at 1.3643 in the US trading session just after noon ET. The GBP/USD has declined from opening at 1.7300 to trading today at 1.7214. The US dollar is gaining today against both the yen and Swiss franc as the USD/JPY has advanced from 99.11 to 100.70 yen per dollar and the USD/CHF has advanced from 1.1260 to 1.1306 today. Elsewhere, the dollar has continued its large gains against the Canadian loonie and trading at the exchange rate of 1.1478 today as the dollar has gained verses the loonie everyday this week. The dollar has fallen verses the Australian Aussie as the AUD/USD is trading at 0.7005 today and the New Zealand kiwi as the NZD/USD has reached the 0.6159 level today.

USD/CAD Chart - The US dollar gains against the Canadian dollar today in forex trading and has risen from 1.0325 on September 29th to above 1.1450 today(Daily Chart).

Today's Forex Chart

tags: jobless claims, trade balance, forex trading, euro, dollar, gbp

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