North American Economic Market Wrap-Up from Forex Live

Economic Data US Retail Sales for Jan +0.5 % m/m from -0.1 % (revised from -0.3 %) expectations +0.3 % US Retail Sales (ex autos) for Jan. +0.6 % m/m from -0.2 % expectations +0.4 % Univ. of Michigan Consumer Sentiment (preliminary) for February 73.7 from 74.4, expectations 75.00. Current Conditions 84.1 from 81.1, forecast 81.4 and expectations 66.9 from 70.1, forecast 70.9. US Business Inventories for December -0.2 % from +0.5 % (revised from +0.4 %) expectations +0.2 % Philadelphia Fed. Forecast Q2 GDP +2.7 % revised from its previous forecast of 2.4 %, sees Q1 CPI Inflation at +1.3 % from previous forecast of +1.2 % and sees Core PCE Inflation at +1.2 % from previous forecast of +1.0 % US Federal Budget Balance for January announcement postponed until Wed Feb 17th Economic News Retail Sales in January increased better than expectations, the data for November and December revised higher. Consumer Sentiment declined this month according to the University of Michigan falling to 73.7 from 74.4. US Stocks opened the day lower, after China surprised the market by increasing reserve requirements for the second time in a month, but pared back some of their losses during the session.. Standard & Poors Analyst says that the EU support of Greece is positive but that will not be the complete solution to the problem. “Risks still lie ahead in the implementation of the consolidation program”. Nakheel CDs fall 2 points to a record low of 86.5 amidst rumors they were headed into administration. Currencies Euro Swiss trading quietly around 1.4640 until mid-morning when it spiked higher to 1.4700 in seconds. a move which looked like intervention to which the SNB declined to comment, Following the move the cross retreated to the 1.4660 – 1.4670 area where it has remained all afternoon. Dollar – Swiss traded at the top of its range until the dollar dropped on the weaker Consumer Sentiment and Business Inventory data but rebounded on the “intervention like” move of the Euro-Swiss to 1.0790. Since lunchtime has range traded between 1.0760 and 1.0775. Euro weakened on the short lived dollar strengthening after the Retail Sales data but then reversed direction heading higher as the dollar weakened and getting a slight boost on the rumored SNB intervention. Euro benefited from a further lift on the European closing before trading most of the afternoon between 1.3595 and 1.3615. Cable traded in a very similar pattern to the Euro although getting a boost as the session winds down trading to a session high of 1.5710 on news of a US led offensive against the Taliban in Afghanistan Dollar Yen’s fell from 90.35 to 89.85 on the back of Euro-yen dropping from 122.80 to 121.90 on the news out of Dubai. The currency then traded in an 89.87 – 90.07 band for the rest of the session . Currency Ranges EUR/USD 1.0550 – 1.0640 USD/JPY 89.85 – 90.40 (EUR/JPY 121.87 – 122.88) GBP/USD 1.5580 – 1.5594 USD/CHF 1.0735 – 1.0810 (EUR/CHF 1.4638 – 1.4700) AUD/USD 0.8784 – 0.8884 NZD/USD 0.6905 – 0.6965 USD/CAD 1.0504 – 1.0569 Closing Prices (4.30 pm EST) EUR/USD 1.3620/23 USD/JPY 80.03/06 GBP/USD 1.5704/09 USD/CHF 1.0760/64 USD/CAD 1.0500/05 AUD/USD 0.8876/80 NZD/USD 0.6972/77 EUR/JPY 122.63/67 EUR/CHFR 1.4660/64. Gold 1092.40/4.40 Crude Oil 74.13 -1.08 Dollar Index 80.40 +0.31 Dow Jones Industrial Index closed at 10,099-14 lower by 45.05 (- 0.44 %) Standard & Poors 500 closed at 1,075-51 lower by 2.96 (- 0.27 %) Nasdaq Composite closed at 2,183-53 higher by 6.12 (+ 0.28 %) On the week the Dow Jones and S&P 500 both higher by 0.9 % and the Nasdaq higher by 2.0 % Have a great weekend