Forex - Dollar lower after US consumer confidence indicator falls
The dollar was slightly lower in afternoon trade after US consumer confidence figures came in below expectations.
The US Conference Board said its Consumer Confidence Index fell to 107.2, down from the revised 111.2 in February. Analysts had expected a reading of 109. The March index was the lowest since November 2006 when the reading was 105.3.
However, the figures showed US consumers' assessment of present conditions improved slightly with the present situation index up to 137.6 from 137.1 in February.
'Consumer assessments of the current state of the labour market improved to the highest reading in over five years,' said analysts at Barclays.
'We interpret this report as another indicator that the labour market is tight, but that consumers are concerned about the potential effect of recent financial market volatility and rising gasoline prices,' they added.
However, after the dollar's falls yesterday following weak new home sales data, the reaction was limited.
'There was a short term reaction with day traders taking a quick profit, but other than that the data didn't cause much of surprise,' said Paul Bednarczyk, currency strategist at 4CAST.
The market will now be waiting to see what happens when US Federal Reserve chairman Ben Bernanke makes his crucial testimony to the Joint Economic Committee tomorrow.
'After mixed US housing data has drawn differing views of the state of the housing sector, the market will be interested in Bernanke's assessment of the subprime situation,' said Gavin Friend, currency strategist at Commerzbank Corporates & Markets.
More Here
The US Conference Board said its Consumer Confidence Index fell to 107.2, down from the revised 111.2 in February. Analysts had expected a reading of 109. The March index was the lowest since November 2006 when the reading was 105.3.
However, the figures showed US consumers' assessment of present conditions improved slightly with the present situation index up to 137.6 from 137.1 in February.
'Consumer assessments of the current state of the labour market improved to the highest reading in over five years,' said analysts at Barclays.
'We interpret this report as another indicator that the labour market is tight, but that consumers are concerned about the potential effect of recent financial market volatility and rising gasoline prices,' they added.
However, after the dollar's falls yesterday following weak new home sales data, the reaction was limited.
'There was a short term reaction with day traders taking a quick profit, but other than that the data didn't cause much of surprise,' said Paul Bednarczyk, currency strategist at 4CAST.
The market will now be waiting to see what happens when US Federal Reserve chairman Ben Bernanke makes his crucial testimony to the Joint Economic Committee tomorrow.
'After mixed US housing data has drawn differing views of the state of the housing sector, the market will be interested in Bernanke's assessment of the subprime situation,' said Gavin Friend, currency strategist at Commerzbank Corporates & Markets.
More Here
Labels: Corporates, Markets, US Federal Reserve
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