The University of Michigan published the Prelim Consumer Sentiment, and it was better than expected – 61.9 . This is above expectations that stood on 59.2.
A high figure like this shows optimism amongst American consumers, in the wake of a new year, and just before Barack Obama enters the White House.
This has affected Forex trading in the minutes after the announcement: the dollar has gained against the Euro, British Pound and Japanese Yen.
Note that TIC Long-Term Purchases were under expectations, with a huge drop of 21.1 billion dollars, contrary to an expected rise of 11 billion. Capacity Utilization was also disappointing at 73.6%.
Monthly Industrial Production showed a worse than expected drop of 2%, significantly worse than the expected 0.9% fall.
All this bad news is now in the shadows due to the good consumer sentiment. This (almost) closes the week in Forex trading.
