A small disappointment: consumer confidence stands at 81.2, lower than expected and lower than last month. The preliminary read for the University of Michigan’s consumer confidence read was expected to stand at 83.2 points in June, up from 81.9 in May. While the correlation with actual retail sales is not always clear, this indicator has an impact on the markets.
Towards the publication, GBP/USD remained on high ground of around 1.6950, EUR/USD slid to around 1.3540 and USD/JPY was flirting with the 102 level. -The dollar is slightly lower in the immediate aftermath of the publication.
The inflation expectations component of the report dropped from 3.3% to 3%.
Earlier, US producer prices came in below expectations: the headline figure dropped by 0.2% and Core PPI by 0.2%. They were both expected to rise. Nevertheless, y/y, PPI stands at 2% and so does Core PPI.
The pound was the star of the day with a shoot higher after BOE governor Carney explicitly warned of a rate hike sooner than markets expect it.
