The dollar is turning in a mixed performance Wednesday afternoon, holding onto its early gains against the Euro, but falling against the British pound and the Japanese Yen. There has been a decided lack of U.S. economic data today, which usually drives the direction of trading.
Investors will be watching for the release of weekly jobless claims data Thursday morning, as well as the minutes of the most recent Federal Reserve meeting Thursday afternoon. Readings on wholesale inventories, as well as import & export prices are slated for Friday.
Mortgage applications surged last week as homebuyers rushed to take advantage of slightly lower mortgage rates just before new federal rules kick in. Mortgage applications increased 25.5 percent from one week earlier, according to data from the Mortgage Bankers Association’s (MBA) Weekly Mortgage Applications Survey for the week ending October 2, 2015.
The dollar rose to a high of $1.1211 against the Euro Wednesday, but has since eased back to around $1.1240.
Germany’s industrial production declined at the fastest pace in 12 months in August, defying expectations for a modest increase, suggesting that economic growth slowed in the third quarter and that the manufacturing sector is set to struggle in coming months mainly due to weaker demand from emerging markets, especially China.
Industrial production declined 1.2 percent from July, when it rose 1.2 percent, which was revised from 0.7 percent, Destatis said Wednesday. Economists had forecast production growth to ease to 0.2 percent.
France’s external trade deficit for August narrowed more-than-expected from a year ago as imports fell at a faster rate than exports, figures from the French Customs showed Wednesday. The trade deficit shrunk to EUR 2.975 billion from EUR 5.283 billion in the same month last year. Economists had expected a EUR 3.25 billion shortfall.
The buck has extended yesterday’s weakness against the pound sterling, falling to a 2-week low of $1.5310, from around $1.5140 on Tuesday.
U.K. industrial output rebounded at a faster-than-expected pace in August, driven by oil extraction and transport equipment. Industrial production grew 1 percent from July, reversing a 0.3 percent drop in the prior month, data from the Office for National Statistics showed Wednesday.
A similar rate of strong growth was last seen in February 2014. Economists had forecast only a 0.3 percent rise for August.
Shop prices in the United Kingdom fell 1.9 percent on year in September, the British Retail Consortium said on Wednesday. That follows the 1.4 percent yearly decline in August.
The Bank of Japan refrained from adding more monetary stimulus on Wednesday despite fears of looming recession as the slowdown in emerging economies hurts exports and production.
The Policy Board of the BoJ governed by Haruhiko Kuroda decided by an 8-1 majority vote to maintain its target of raising the monetary base at an annual pace of about JPY 80 trillion.
The greenback slipped to a low of Y119.689 against the Japanese Yen, but has since bounced back to around Y119.965.
The leading index for Japan, which measures the future economic activity, dropped less-than-expected to the lowest level in fifteen months in August, preliminary figures from the Cabinet Office showed Wednesday. The leading index dropped to 103.5 in August from 105.0 in the previous month. Economists had expected the index to fall to 103.4.
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