Thread: Forex News from InstaForex

EUROPEAN ECONOMICS PREVIEW: UK CONSUMER PRICE DATA DUE





Consumer and producer prices from the UK are due on Wednesday, headlining a light day for the European economic news.

At 2.00 am ET, the Office for National Statistics releases UK consumer and producer prices for May. Consumer price inflation is forecast to rise to 1.8 percent from 1.5 percent in April. Output price inflation is seen at 4.5 percent versus 3.9 percent in the previous month.

At 3.00 am ET, the Czech producer price data for May is due. Producer price inflation is expected to remain unchanged at 4.6 percent.

At 4.30 am ET, the Office for National Statistics is scheduled to issue UK house price data.

At 5.00 am ET, Eurostat releases euro area labor cost data for the first quarter.

SINGAPORE NON-OIL DOMESTIC EXPORTS DIP 0.1% IN MAY




The value of Singapore's non-oil domestic exports were down a seasonally adjusted 0.1 percent on month in May, Enterprise Singapore said on Thursday - coming in at SGD15.4 billion.

That was well shy of expectations for an increase of 4.7 percent following the 8.8 percent decline in April.

On a yearly basis, NODX climbed 8.8 percent - missing forecasts for an increase of 16.0 percent following the 6.0 percent increase in the previous month.

NODX to the top 10 markets as a whole rose in May, mainly due to China, Hong Kong and Malaysia - although NODX to the United States, Japan and the EU 27 declined.

EURO LITTLE CHANGED FOLLOWING GERMAN PPI

Germany's producer price data has been released at 2.00 am ET Friday. The euro changed little against its major counterparts after the data.

The euro was trading at 130.01 against the yen, 1.0927 against the franc, 0.8564 against the pound and 1.1903 against the greenback around 2:05 am ET.

News are provided by InstaForex

DOLLAR EXTENDS GAINS AGAINST RIVALS



The U.S. dollar turned in another fine performance, gaining significant ground against its major rivals on Friday, as it continued to benefit from a hawkish policy outlook from the Federal Reserve.

While announcing its monetary policy on Wednesday, the Fed signaled that it would raise interest rates by 2023, and also likely taper its bond-buying plan sometime sooner than expected.

Fed Chairman Jerome Powell indicated during his post meeting press conference on Wednesday that the members have started discussions about scaling back the bond purchase program given higher inflation and faster economic growth.

The dollar index rose to 92.41, its highest level since mid-April. Despite paring some gains subsequently, the index remains quite high up at 92.28, more than 0.4% up from the previous close.

Against the Euro, the dollar firmed to $1.1867, gaining about 0.35%. The euro area current account surplus totaled EUR 23 billion in April versus EUR 18 billion surplus in the previous month, the European Central Bank reported.

The Pound Sterling was down too, fetching $1.3808 a unit, compared to $1.3926 on Thursday. Data from the Office for National Statistics showed that retail sales in the UK dropped 1.4% month-on-month in May, reversing a 9.2% rise in April and confounding expectations for an increase of 1.6%.

On a yearly basis, the retail sales volume growth moderated to 24.6% in May from 42.4% a month ago. This was also slower than the expected expansion of 29%.

Against the Yen, the dollar was slightly weak at 110.19.

The dollar strengthened to 0.7490 against the Aussie, gaining from 0.7552 a unit.

Against Swiss franc the dollar gained, fetching CHF 0.9224 a unit, as against CHF 0.9175 Thursday evening.

The Loonie weakened to 1.2440 a dollar, declining from 1.2358.

News are provided by
InstaForex.

CHINA KEEPS BENCHMARK LENDING RATES UNCHANGED



China kept its benchmark lending rates unchanged, as widely expected, on Monday.

The one-year loan prime rate was maintained at 3.85 percent and the five-year loan prime rate was retained at 4.65 percent.

The one-year and five-year loan prime rates were last lowered in April 2020. The one-year loan prime rate was cut by 20 basis points and five-year rate by 10 basis points in April 2020.

As the People's Bank of China had kept the rate on its medium-term lending facility unchanged early this month, markets widely expected the rates to remain on hold today.

The loan prime rate is fixed monthly based on the submission of 18 banks, though Beijing has influence over the rate-setting. This lending rate replaced the central bank's traditional benchmark lending rate in August 2019. The PBoC has now fully reversed last year's credit acceleration using quantitative controls, Sheana Yue and Mark Williams, economists at Capital Economics, said. Accordingly, policy rate hikes that could prompt LPR increases are unlikely in the near future.

The key point for the economy is that the tighter credit conditions will act as a headwind over the coming quarters even in the absence of any rate changes, the economists added.

News are provided by
InstaForex.

FINLAND JOBLESS RATE FALLS IN MAY



Finland's jobless rate decreased in May, figures from Statistics Finland showed on Tuesday.

The unemployment rate for the 15 to 74 age group fell to 9.6 percent in May from 10.9 percent in the same month last year. In April, jobless rate was 9.0 percent.

The number of unemployed persons decreased by 25,000 to 275,000 in May from 300,000 in the last year.

The employment rate rose to 73.0 percent in May from 69.1 percent in the same month last year.

The number of employed persons grew by 138,000 from a year ago to 2.58 million.

On a seasonally adjusted basis, unemployment rate remained unchanged at 7.6 percent in May.

News are provided by
InstaForex.

POUND LITTLE CHANGED AFTER U.K. PMI DATA





At 4.30 am ET Wednesday, UK IHS Markit/CIPS composite Purchasing Managers' survey results have been released. The pound changed little against its major rivals after the data.


The pound was trading at 154.93 against the yen, 1.3972 against the greenback, 0.8548 against the euro and 1.2823 against the franc around 4:35 am ET.

DUTCH Q1 GDP FALLS MORE THAN ESTIMATED



The Dutch economy contracted more than initially estimated in the first quarter, revised data from the Central Bureau of Statistics showed on Thursday.

Gross domestic product declined 0.8 percent sequentially, bigger than the -0.5 percent estimated on May 18. GDP had remained flat in the fourth quarter of 2020.

The expenditure-side breakdown of GDP showed that household spending decreased 3.5 percent and government expenditure was down 2 percent. At the same time, gross investment in fixed assets advanced 3 percent.

Import of goods and services gained 0.8 percent and exports of goods and services grew 1.1 percent.

On a yearly basis, GDP contracted 2.4 percent annually, after falling 2.9 percent in the fourth quarter. The decline for the first quarter was revised from -2.8 percent.

News are provided by
InstaForex.

UK CONSUMER CONFIDENCE REMAINS STABLE IN JUNE: GFK



UK consumer sentiment remained unchanged in June, survey results from market research group GfK showed on Friday.

The consumer confidence index held steady at -9.0 in June, while it was forecast to rise to -7.0.

"A repetition of last month's score doesn't mean confidence is about to nose-dive," Joe Staton, client strategy director at GfK, said.

The upwards trajectory for the Index since the dark days at the start of the pandemic is currently still on track, Staton said. However, forecasts for rising retail price inflation could weaken consumer confidence quickly.

Four measures of the index were up in comparison to the previous month, while one measure was down.

The index measuring past changes in personal finances gained four points to zero. The forecast for personal finances over the next year rose only one point to +11.

The measure for the general economic situation over the last year edged up one point to -47, while the expectations for the general economic situation over the coming twelve months dropped by six points to -2.

The Major Purchase Index improved by two points to -5 and the Savings Index was down one point to +21 in June.

News are provided by
InstaForex.

DOLLAR RECOVERS AFTER MID SESSION SETBACK



The U.S. dollar depreciated against its most major counterparts in the European session on Friday, as the nation's personal income slumped in May, easing fears over a faster tightening of monetary policy by the U.S. Federal Reserve. .

The currency recovered from lows post noon and even managed to gain some ground against some of its rivals.

In economic news today, a report from the Commerce Department showed the annual rate of core consumer price growth in May matched economist estimates. The reading on inflation said to be preferred by the Fed showed the annual rate of core consumer price growth accelerated to 3.4% in May from 3.1% in April.

According to the data released by the Commerce Department, personal income slumped by 2% in May after plunging by 13.1% in April. Economists had expected personal income to tumble by 2.5%.

Meanwhile, the report showed personal spending was virtually unchanged in May after climbing by 0.9% in April. Personal spending was expected to rise by 0.4%.

A report from the University of Michigan said that its consumer sentiment reading for the US was revised lower to 85.5 in June from a preliminary reading of 86.4. Although market had expected to score to come in at 87.4, it still remained the second-highest since start of the pandemic.

The currency was further weighed by stimulus optimism, after President Joe Biden announced that the White House has reached an infrastructure deal with U.S. Senators worth $579 billion.

The agreement proposes spending to rebuild roads, bridges and other traditional infrastructure over the next five years.

The package is expected to generate "millions" of jobs and will be funded through unused coronavirus aid money and returned state jobless benefits.

The dollar index dropped to 91.53 around mid morning, but rallied to 91.88 later on in the day. It was last seen at 91.80, down slightly from the previous close.

Against the Euro, the dollar was slightly weak at $1.1937, after recovering from $1.1977.

Against Pound Sterling, the dollar firmed to $1.3879, gaining from $1.3922.

The Yen gained marginally at 110.79 a dollar.

News are provided by
InstaForex.