US Consumer Prices flat, jobless claims fall. Dollar mixed in forex trading. | CountingPips Forex Blog

October 16, 2008 - Forex Economic News

US Consumer Prices flat, jobless claims fall. Dollar mixed in forex trading.

U.S. Consumer Prices were unchanged in the month of September and the energy index declined for the second month in a row according to a report released today by the U.S. Department of Labor. The Consumer Price Index, a key measurement of inflation, was flat or showed no change in September from August following up a decrease of 0.1 percent in USD mixed in Forex August from July. The annual rate of consumer price inflation increased by 4.9 percent when compared to September 2007 following an annual rate of increase of 5.4 percent in August. Market forecasts had expected the monthly consumer prices to increase by 0.1 percent and the annual increase to reach 5.0 percent for September.

Energy prices continued to decline as the energy index for September fell by 1.9 percent following a decline of 3.1 percent in August. The energy index had surged by 4.4 percent in May, by 6.6 percent in June and by 4.0 percent in July before coming down in August.

The core consumer price index reading, excluding food and energy prices, increased by 0.1 percent for the month and increased by 2.5 percent over the September 2007 level. Market forecasts were expecting the monthly core cpi to increase by 0.2 percent and the annual rate of increase to register 2.5 percent.

Weekly jobless claims fall.

Weekly U.S. jobless claims declined in the week that ended on October 11th according to a separate report by the U.S. Labor Department today. Jobless claims fell by 16,000 workers to a total of 461,000 unemployed workers. A 4-week moving average rose by 750 workers from the prior week to 483,250. Meanwhile, workers continuing claims for unemployment benefits for the week ending October 4th increased by 40,000 workers while a four week moving average of continuing claims grew by 65,750 workers to 3,566,250 workers.

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 and yen have declined verses the dollar while the aussie, kiwi and loonie dollars have advanced today against the American currency. The Swiss franc and British pound have been virtually unchanged against the dollar.

The EUR/USD pair has declined slightly from today's opening rate of 1.3473 dollars per euro to trading at 1.3455 at the end of the U.S. trading session at 5pm ET.

The GBP/USD has been virtually unchanged from today's opening level at approximately 1.7295 to trading today at 1.7297.

The US dollar is gaining today against the yen after falling the last couple of days to the Japanese currency. The USD/JPY opened at approximately 100.17 and has advanced to trading at 101.56 for a gain of 139 pips so far today.

The dollar has also been virtually unchanged today verses the Swiss franc as the USD/CHF has made a slight gain from the 1.1369 opening to trading at 1.1372.

The dollar has fallen today against the Canadian loonie after gaining the last two days in a row. The USD/CAD has declined to trading around the 1.1775 level today after opening at 1.1864.

The Australian Aussie has gained verses the US dollar after falling the last two days. The AUD/USD has reached the 0.6935 level after opening at 0.6725 while the New Zealand kiwi has also gained agianst the dollar as the NZD/USD has reached the 0.6187 level today.

USD/JPY Chart - The US dollar showing a slight gain today against the Japanese yen in forex trading(Daily Chart). The USD/JPY pair has declined from 110.65 to 101.66 in almost exactly two months time.

Today's Forex Chart

tags: consumer prices, jobless claims, forex trading

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