Forex Daily Outlook – August 24 2010

We have some interesting updates coming up today, Existing Home Sales in the US, Core Retail Sales in Canada, Inflation Expectations Percentage in New Zealand and more. Let’s see what awaits us today.

In the US Existing Home Sales, the main gauge of the condition of the US housing market measuring the number of closed sales of previously constructed homes, condominiums and co-ops, that triggers a wide-reaching ripple effect. The sales of existing homes are expected to expose more weakness in the US housing market with up to 7.2% drop and 4.63 M homes sold in July from 5.37 M in June.

In the US, Richmond Manufacturing Index, Monthly Survey of about 100 manufacturers in the Richmond area which asks respondents to rate the relative level of business conditions including shipments, new orders, and employment, indicates improving conditions with 14 points.

In Canada, Core Retail Sales, the total value of sales at the retail level, excluding automobiles, increased by 0.2%. Automobile sales account for about 20% of Retail Sales that increased by 6%, but they tend to be very volatile and distort the underlying trend. The Core data is therefore thought to be a better gauge of spending trends;

More in Canada, Bank of Canada (BOC), Deputy Governor John Murray delivers a speech titled “Re-examining Canada’s Monetary Policy Framework: Recent Research and Outstanding Issues” at the Canadian Association for Business Economics, in Kingston; and influence the future monetary policy;

For more on USD/CAD, read the  Canadian dollar forecast.

In Europe, Industrial New Orders, the total value of new purchase orders placed with manufacturers decreased by 2.2%. a leading indicator of production.

Also in  Europe, Belgium National Bank of Belgium (NBB); Business Climate, Monthly Survey of about 6,000 businesses which asks respondents to rate the relative level of current business conditions and expectations for the next 6 months, increased by 0.4%, it’s a leading indicator that can be an early signal of future economic activity such as spending, hiring, and investment.

For more on the Euro, read the  EUR/USD forecast and Casey Stubbs’  latest analysis.

In Great Britain, British Bankers’ Association (BBA); Mortgage Approvals, the Number of new mortgages approved for home purchase by BBA-represented banks during the previous month decreased by 0.5%. It’s a leading indicator of housing market, so it provides an excellent gauge of how many qualified buyers are entering the market.

Read more about the Pound in the  GBP/USD forecast.

In New Zealand, Inflation Expectations Percentage that business managers expect the price of goods and services to change annually during the next 2 years stabilized on 2.8%, and expectations of future inflation can manifest into real inflation.

In Japan, Trade Balance of the difference between imported and exported goods. The Japanese trade surplus is forecasted to show a minimal increase to 470 B yen from 460 B in the previous month, but a decline in exports would signal that the Japanese economic recovery could be losing momentum.

More in Japan, Corporate Services Price Index (CSPI); the price of services purchased by corporations decreased by 0.8%, It’s a leading indicator of consumer inflation, the higher costs are usually passed on to the consumer.

That’s it for today. Happy forex trading!

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