By CountingPips.com
U.S. Retail Sales increased for the second month in a row in June according to a report by the U.S. Commerce Department released today. Advance estimates of June retail sales showed that sales rose by 0.6 percent to $342.1 billion following a 0.5 percent decline in May. On an annual basis, retail sales are still 9.0 percent below the June 2008 level following May’s 9.8 percent annual decline. Today’s data beat the market forecasts expecting a 0.4 percent monthly sales gain.
Retail sales, minus automobiles, increased by 0.3 percent in June after a 0.4 percent revised gain in May. This data failed to match market forecasts that were predicting a 0.5 percent gain for the month. On an annual basis, sales minus autos is 7.3 percent lower than the May 2008 level following April’s annual decline of 7.3 percent.
June’s retail sales numbers were boosted by a 5.0 percent increase gasoline station sales. Despite the monthly increase, gasoline station sales are still 31.6 percent below the June 2008 level when gas prices were on a steep incline towards record high prices. Also positively contibuting to the retail sales for June was a 2.3 percent increase in motor vehicle & parts dealer sales. The largest negative contributors to the retail sales data were food services & drinking places and building material & garden eq. & supplies dealers with both sectors showing a 0.9 percent decline.
Producer Prices increase for third month in a row.
U.S. producer prices increased for a third straight month in June according to a report released today by the U.S. Labor Department. Producer prices or wholesale inflation increased by 1.8 percent in June following a 0.2 percent increase in May and a 0.3 percent gain in April.
On an annual basis, producer prices have decreased by 4.6 percent from June 2008 following May’s annual 5.0 percent decline. Contributing to the price increase was a rise in energy prices by 6.6 percent in June after energy had increased by 2.9 percent in May.
Economic forecasts for the monthly producer price numbers were expecting a 0.8 percent increase and a 5.3 percent decrease on an annual basis. Core prices, excluding volatile energy and food costs, increased by 0.5 percent in June and registered a year-over-year increase of 3.3 percent.
US Dollar showing mixed results in forex trading.
The U.S. dollar has been mixed in forex trading today against the major currencies. The dollar is showing gains against the euro, Swiss franc and the Japanese yen while falling to lower levels versus the Australian dollar, New Zealand dollar, Canadian dollar and British pound since the beginning of the day at 00:00 GMT.
The euro has fallen verses the dollar as the EUR/USD has declined from today’s 1.3983 opening exchange rate at 00:00 GMT to trading at approximately 1.3937 in the afternoon of the US trading session at 1:44pm ET according to currency data by Oanda.
The British pound has gained slightly today verses the American currency as the GBP/USD pair has gone from 1.6258 to trading at 1.6275 dollars per pound. The dollar has advanced slightly against the Japanese yen today as the USD/JPY has gained from its 93.07 opening to trading at 93.20.
The dollar has fallen against the Canadian dollar after the USD/CAD’s opening at 1.1512 earlier today to trading at 1.1374. Meanwhile, the USD has gained against the Swiss franc as the USD/CHF has traveled from 1.0834 to trading at 1.0905.
The Australian dollar has gained ground verses the USD as the AUD/USD trades at 0.7882 after opening today at 0.7850 while the New Zealand dollar has also advanced slightly verses the USD and trades at 0.6347 after opening at 0.6338.
USD/CAD Chart – The US dollar declining today verses the Canadian dollar in forex trading.
