By CountingPips.com
U.S. employment data was released today in the form of the ADP National Employment Report and showed that U.S. private employment declined by less than the previous month but by more than expected. June’s nonfarm private employment fell by 
473,000 following the revised May decline of 485,000 jobs. May’s data was revised downwards from the original release of 532,000 jobs lost.
June’s data was worse than the decline of 394,000 jobs the market forecasts were expecting but was better than the three month average of 492,000 jobs lost in April, May and June.
The market-moving US Nonfarm Payrolls report for June is to be released tomorrow at 12:30 pm GMT because of the US independance holiday this week with market forecasts predicting a decline of 365,000 jobs after May’s 345,000 decrease.
ISM Manufacturing data improves but not at growth levels yet.
U.S. Manufacturing data, released today by the Institute for Supply Management, improved in June from May but showed that manufacturing activity failed to grow for the seventeenth straight month. June’s ISM Report On Business index readings for economic activity were at 44.8 percent following May’s 42.8 percent level. A score above 50 percent is considered to be growth and less than 50 percent is considered to be a contraction. The June score just about matched economic forecasts which were expecting the ISM index reading to register 44.9 percent. The overall economy, according to the ISM index, has expanded and grew for the second consecutive month in June after seven straight declining months.
Norbert J. Ore, chair of the ISM Business Survey Committee, commented on the report saying, “Manufacturing continues to contract at a slower rate, but the trends in the indexes are encouraging as seven of 18 industries reported growth in June. Most encouraging is the gain in the Production Index, which is up 12.1 percentage points in the last two months to 52.5 percent.”
Pending Homes Sales in US increase.
U.S. Pending Homes sales rose for the fourth straight month in May according to the monthly report produced by the National Association of Realtors. The NAR report showed that pending home sales contracts signed by buyers increased 0.1 percent in May following a revised 7.1 percent increase in April. May marked the first time since October 2004 that pending home sales had increased for four consecutive months.
Market forecastors had predicted the sales data would show no change or remain flat for the month. The pending home sales level is 4.6 percent above the May 2008 level.
NAR chief economist Lawrence Yun commented in the report about the increased sales figures this month, “Rises in contract activity show buyers are becoming more active even as they face much more stringent loan underwriting standards. Speedy clarification of the appraisal rules could smooth a housing market recovery and support the overall economy.”
US Dollar lower in forex trading.
The U.S. dollar has been under pressure in forex trading against the major currencies so far today. The dollar has fallen against the euro, Australian dollar, British pound, Japanese yen, Swiss franc and Canadian dollar while trading slightly higher against the New Zealand dollar.
The euro has advanced versus the dollar as the EUR/USD has gone from today’s 1.4034 opening exchange rate at 00:00 GMT to trading at approximately 1.4176 in the afternoon of the US trading session at 1:17pm EST according to currency data by Oanda.
The dollar has decreased against the Japanese yen after two straight increasing days as the USD/JPY has edged down from its 96.77 opening to trading at 96.42.
The British pound has increased today versus the American currency as the GBP/USD has gone from 1.6451 to trading at 1.6519 dollars per pound. The dollar has fallen against the Canadian dollar after the USD/CAD’s opening at 1.1616 earlier today to trading at 1.1470 later today.
The Australian dollar has traded higher versus the USD as the AUD/USD trades at 0.8096 after opening today at 0.8060 while the New Zealand dollar has fallen slightly versus the USD and trades at 0.6438 after opening at 0.6452.
Finally, the USD has declined against the Swiss franc today as the USD/CHF has fallen from the 1.0858 opening to trading at 1.0722.
USD/CAD Chart – The US Dollar fell sharply today against the Canadian Dollar in Forex Trading before finding support around the 1.1450 level.
