ISM Manufacturing data declines in December. USD mixed in Forex Trading. | CountingPips Forex Blog

January 2, 2009 - Forex Economic News

ISM Manufacturing data declines in December. USD mixed in Forex Trading.

U.S. Manufacturing data, released today by the Institute for Supply Management, showed that manufacturing activity fell in December for the fifth straight month and registered a 28-year low. December's ISM Report On Business index readings for economic activity were at 32.4 percent, a decline from November's 36.2 percent and below economic forecasts which Forex - USD Mixed versus majors were expecting a 35.4 percent reading. A score above 50 is considered to be growth while a less than 50 score is considered to be contraction in that sector. The December score is the lowest level of the index since June of 1980 and the report showed that the overall economy contracted for the 3rd straight month following 82 consecutive months of growth.

Norbert J. Ore, chair of the ISM Business Survey Committee, stated in the report that, "Manufacturing activity continued to decline at a rapid rate during the month of December. The decline covers the full breadth of manufacturing industries, as none of the industries in the sector report growth at this time. New orders have contracted for 13 consecutive months, and are at the lowest level on record going back to January 1948. Order backlogs have fallen to the lowest level since ISM began tracking the Backlog of Orders Index in January 1993. Manufacturers are reducing inventories and shutting down capacity to offset the slower rate of activity."

New orders for manufactured goods showed a 5.2 percent decline for the month of December while the prices index dropped by 7.5 for the month. New orders have now fallen for 13 straight months and the prices index has fallen for 3 straight months.

Production saw a decline of 6.0 percent for the month while employment decreased by 4.3 percent. Inventories fell by 0.3 percent and exports fell by 5.5 percent. Customer's inventories and imports were the only sectors not showing declining levels with increases of 2.0 percent and 1.5 percent, respectively.

US Dollar mixed on first trading day of 2009.

The U.S. dollar has been mixed in forex trading today against the major currencies. The dollar has gained against the British pound, Swiss franc and Japanese yen while being on the defensive against most of the other major currencies. The euro has fallen slightly versus the dollar from today's 1.3869 opening to trading at approximately 1.3864 in the afternoon of the US trading session at 1:49pm ET.

The British pound has nose dived today versus the dollar from 1.4632 to trading at 1.4456 and reached a low today of 1.4376. The dollar has been advancing against the Japanese yen today as the USD/JPY has gained from its 91.09 opening to trading at 91.88.

The dollar has fallen against the Canadian dollar after opening at 1.2220 earlier today to trading later at 1.2118. Against the Swiss franc, the USD has gained ground from the 1.0747 opening to trading at 1.0785.

The New Zealand dollar has improved today versus the US dollar after opening at 0.5779 today as the NZD/USD currently trades at 0.5847. The Australian dollar has also gained ground versus the USD as the AUD/USD trades at 0.7072 after opening today at 0.6969.

USD/JPY Chart - The US Dollar advancing today against the Japanese Yen on the first day of trading in 2009(Hourly Chart).

Today's Forex Chart

tags: us manfacturing, ism report on business, forex trading

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