Retail sales in the US for the month of November 1.3%, better than analyst expectations of .6%. This could mean that the consumer in the US is starting to come back, which would bode well for the US economy and the world economy as well. Since the US consumer makes up more than 2/3 of US GDP, retail sales is very important to get the economy back on track.
New such as this is something that traders should keep an eye on. At 8:30AM when the figure was announced, USD advanced vs. JPY, but pulled back against Aussie. Currently, the Aussie is benefiting from improved export numbers from China, also indicating a global recovery may be underway.
The Japanese yen is noticeably weak today, as signs of recovery are encouraging risk taking. JPY is down 1.4% vs. USD, 1.2% vs. GBP, and 1.2% vs. AUD.
So basically today appears to be a risk-taking today… with a little bit of US dollar strength mixed in. Interest rate hawks are starting to believe that good economic news in the US is going to cause the Fed to act sooner than later to raise rates to ward off inflation.
Only time will tell if that is the case.
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