By CountingPips.com
U.S. durable goods orders increased by the largest amount in two years in July according to a report released by the U.S. Commerce Department today. Durable goods orders in the United States advanced by 4.9 percent in July to a total of $168.4 billion after declining by a revised 1.3 percent in June. Durable goods orders have now increased in three of the last four months and July’s data was spurred higher by a increase in aircraft orders. Today’s data beat market forecasts that had been expecting that durable goods orders would increase by approximately 3.0 percent for the month.
New orders for durable goods excluding transportation gained by 0.8 percent in July following a revised increase of 2.5 percent in June and marked the third straight monthly gain. Market forecasts were predicting an increase of 0.9 percent in durable goods minus transportation.
Shipments of durable goods increased in July by 2.0 percent and rose for the second straight month. Unfilled orders decreased by 0.1 percent in the month while durable good inventories decreased by 0.8 percent and have now declined for seven straight months. July nondefense orders for new goods grew by 8.6 percent while defense orders for capital goods rose by 14.8 percent.
U.S. New Home Sales jump higher in July.
New Home Sales in the United States increased the most in four years in July according to data released by the Department of Commerce today. Purchases of new single family homes rose to an annual rate of 433,000 in July and making a 9.6 percent advancement following June’s 9.1 percent revised gain. July’s annual rate of new homes sold, despite the increase, is still 13.4 percent lower than the July 2008 level.
July’s results were much better than market forecasts which were expecting a 1.6 percent increase in sales for an annual rate of 390,000 new homes sold. The median sales price of new homes in July fell by 12 percent on an annual basis to $210,100 while the average sales price came in at $269,200.
Contributing to the gain in July was a 32.4 percent increase in new homes sold in the Northeast while the South saw a 16 percent rise and the West rose by 1.0 percent. The Midwest realized a 7.6 percent decline for July.
US Dollar rises in Forex Trading today.
The U.S. dollar has been on the rise in forex trading today on the back of the positive U.S. durable goods and new home sales news. The American currency has gained against the euro, British pound, Australian dollar, Canadian dollar, Swiss franc and New Zealand dollar while trading almost unchanged versus the Japanese yen.
The euro has fallen in trading versus the dollar from today’s 1.4302 opening at 00:00 GMT to trading at approximately 1.4244 in the afternoon of the US trading session at 3:34pm EST according to currency data by Oanda.
The British pound has lost ground to the dollar as the GBP/USD has gone from its 1.6331 opening rate to trading at 1.6243 in the U.S. session.
The dollar has been virtually unchanged against the Japanese yen as the USD/JPY has gone from its 94.18 opening to trading at 94.17.
The Australian dollar has fallen versus the USD with the AUD/USD trading at 0.8277 after opening today at 0.8372. The New Zealand dollar has also lost ground versus the US dollar as the NZD/USD trades at 0.6808 after opening the day at the 0.6870 exchange rate.
Against the Swiss franc, the USD has been gained ground today as the USD/CHF has risen from its 1.0621 opening to trading at 1.0682. The dollar has increased against the Canadian dollar after the USD/CAD opened at 1.0858 earlier today to trading at 1.0979.
AUD/USD Chart – The Australian Dollar declining against the US Dollar in Forex Trading today and falling under the 200-hour simple moving average in blue.
