buck declined against the franc and the pound while gaining against
the Aussie and slightly against the euro and Loonie. Inflation
concerns drove the pound higher as GBP/USD surged as high as nearly
1.6170 and has since settled to current levels around 1.6125.
There was a raft of U.S. economic data released today. Advance retail
sales for January disappointed missing expectations of +0.5% falling
to +0.3% from the prior +0.5%. Retail sales less autos surprised to
the downside as the market was anticipating +0.6% while the actual was
+0.3% (prior +0.3%). The February Empire Manufacturing survey was
slightly better than the forecast for 15.00 with a print of 15.43 and
prior 11.92. January import price index rose to +1.5% from the
previous +1.2% (cons. +0.8%) Net long-term TIC flows for December
dropped to $65.9B from the prior month's $85.1B (cons. $40.0B),
December business inventories were slightly higher than the expected
+0.7% with a change of +0.8% (prior +0.4%), and the February NAHB
housing market index was as expected and unchanged from the previous
16.
U.S. equities were trading with a negative tone and finished the day
in the red. The Dow Jones Industrial Average slumped to close down by
about -0.34% and the S&P 500 declined by roughly -0.33%. Commodities
were mixed with a drop in oil by about -0.62% while the precious
metals rallied. Gold gained by roughly +0.95% outperforming silver
which rose by about +0.59%. U.S. 10-year Treasury yields shed 2 bps to
around 3.60%.
On the data front for the upcoming Asia/Pacific session is
Australia's Westpac leading index for December, February DEWR
skilled vacancies and January new motor vehicle sales. Japan is set to
release its Tertiary Industry index for December.
Source: ActionForex.Com
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