Upbeat US Data amid Lackluster FX

by Korman Tam

The dollar was mixed against the majors in the Wednesday session, largely confined within recent ranges in lackluster trading. The greenback recovered from its session lows versus the euro at 1.4350 to hover near the 1.4230-level, while pushing the Canadian dollar just shy of the 1.10-figure.

New home sales posted a strong reading in July, surging by its largest figure in nearly 4-years, up by 9.6% to 433k units versus 384k units from June. Building permits were drifted by 1.1% to 564k units in July. Meanwhile, durable goods orders were sharply better than expected, posting a gain of 4.9% versus a 2.2% decline a month earlier in June. The excluding transports July durable goods orders also improved, edging higher by 0.8% compared with a 1.6% increase a month earlier.

In the coming session, traders will look ahead to weekly jobless claims and more importantly, the preliminary reading for Q2 GDP. Weekly jobless claims are expected improve to 565k from 576k a week earlier. Meanwhile, economic growth in the second quarter is expected to post a 1.4% contraction, deteriorating further from a 1.0% contraction in the previous quarter. The Q2 PCE is expected to hold steady at 1.3%.

Euro Trades Sideways

The euro continues to hover around the 1.4240 figure after pulling back from the session high near 1.4350. Eurozone economic reports released overnight saw Germany’s August Ifo index improved by more than expected to 90.5 from 87.3 in July while the expectations index jumped to 95.0 from 90.4. Germany’s CPI figures are due out in early Thursday trading and are seen remaining tempered in August.

EURUSD trades sideways, remaining confined within recent ranges. Interim resistance is seen at 1.4270, followed by 1.43 and 1.4350. Subsequent ceilings are eyed at 1.4380, backed by 1.44 and 1.4440. On the downside, support begins at 1.42, followed by 1.4160 and 1.4120. Additional floors will emerge at 1.41, followed by 1.4065 and 1.4030.