Wednesday, July 18, 2007

Dollar Extended Loss, Awaits PPI

The dollar extended loss against its major rivals as the market has not got rid of the scare that the subprime sector meltdown may spill over into the broader economy especially after last Friday’s surprisingly weak retail sales data. The euro hovers under 1.38 versus the dollar, while the sterling strengthened to test the 2.04 level for the first time in 26 years.

Though a report showed manufacturing activity quickened in New York State, the dollar remained under pressure as inflation and housing data to be released this week are expected to be weak. The Empire Fed manufacturing index for July rose from 25.75 to 26.46, beating the estimate of 18.

A bunch of economic reports from US are due tomorrow. PPI, a key inflation gauge, is expected to fall from 0.9% to 0.2% in June. Excluding food and energy, core index is estimated to remain at 0.2% unchanged. US net TICS is seen to decrease from 84.1 billion to 70.0 billion. Capacity utilization is forecasted to barely changed from prior month’s reading of 81.3%. Besides, industrial production may increase 0.4% in June.

No comments: