The dollar is turning in a mixed performance against its major rivals Tuesday afternoon. The U.S. currency is up against the pound sterling, but is slightly weaker against the Euro and the Japanese Yen. There has been no U.S. economic data to drive the direction of trading today.
Investors can look forward to the release of the wholesale inventory report Wednesday morning, while weekly jobless claims and import/export prices are scheduled for Thursday. The producer price index, retail sales and consumer sentiment are all slated for Friday.
The French economy is likely to grow at a slightly slower pace in the fourth quarter than the prior estimate, the Bank of France said Tuesday.
In the second estimate, the bank said gross domestic product will grow 0.3 percent in the final quarter of 2015 instead of 0.4 percent.
The dollar reached an early high of $1.0829 against the Euro Tuesday morning, but has since slipped to around $1.0890.
Eurozone economic growth eased slightly as estimated in the third quarter on weak exports, second estimate published by Eurostat showed Tuesday. Gross domestic product grew 0.3 percent sequentially in the third quarter, which was marginally below the 0.4 percent expansion seen in the second quarter.
French trade deficit increased in October from the previous month, as exports fell and imports rose, figures from the French Customs showed Tuesday. The trade deficit widened to EUR 4.6 billion in October from EUR 3.6 billion in September. In the corresponding month last year, the shortfall was EUR 4.4 billion.
The buck climbed to a high of $1.4956 against the pound sterling Tuesday morning, but has since eased back to around $1.5000.
U.K. industrial production grew slightly as expected in October, figures from the Office for National Statistics showed Tuesday. Industrial output edged up 0.1 percent in October from September, when it remained flat. The monthly growth rate came in line with expectations.
U.K. manufacturing output declined at a faster than expected pace in October, signaling a weak start to the fourth quarter activity. Manufacturing output fell 0.4 percent in October, reversing a revised 0.9 percent rise in prior month, data from the Office for National Statistics showed Tuesday.
Output was expected to drop marginally by 0.2 percent after posting an initial 0.8 percent growth in September. This was the first decrease in three months.
U.K. house prices declined unexpectedly in November, survey data from the Lloyds Banking Group’s Halifax division showed Tuesday. House prices slid 0.2 percent in November from October, when it grew 1 percent. Economists had forecast a 0.2 percent rise for November.
Like-for-like sales in the United Kingdom fell 0.4 percent on year in November, the British Retail Consortium said on Tuesday. That missed forecasts for an increase of 0.5 percent and was down from the 0.2 percent decline in October.
The greenback fell to an early low of Y122.717 against the Japanese Yen this morning, but has since rebounded to around Y123.
Japan’s gross domestic product was revised up to 1.0 percent on year in the third quarter of 2015, the Cabinet Office said on Tuesday. That topped forecasts for an increase of 0.2 percent, and it was up sharply from November’s preliminary reading that suggested a contraction of 0.8 percent.
The revision means that Japan escaped recession, since the final Q2 figure was a contraction of 0.7 percent.
Japan had a current account surplus of 1.458 trillion yen in October, the Ministry of Finance said on Tuesday, surging 72.3 percent on year. The headline figure was shy of forecasts for a surplus of 1.594 trillion yen and down from 1.468 trillion yen in September.
A measure of peoples’ assessment of the Japanese economy decreased unexpectedly in November to the lowest level in ten months, survey figures from the Cabinet Office showed Tuesday. The current index of Economy Watchers’ survey fell by 2.1 points to 46.1 in November from 48.2 in October. Economists had expected the index to increase to 48.7.
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