US pending home sales dropped by 1.6% in August. They were expected to slide by 0.9% after falling by 1.4% last month (revised down from -1.3%). While this is a secondary housing figure, the housing sector’s slide has worried the Fed, and the publication has an impact on currencies.
EUR/USD traded around 1.35, its “magnet†in recent days. USD/JPY continued higher, climbing above 98.80. GBP/USD was on the defensive after a small disappointment in GDP numbers. This small disappointment sends the dollar a bit lower. The moves are limited.
Update: the dollar’s drop against the euro is minimal, and against the yen, we are in the pre-release levels.
Earlier, data was somewhat contradicting: jobless claims dropped to 305K, and reportedly the data wasn’t skewed. However, GDP was not revised to the upside and remained at an annualized level of 2.5% for Q2.
The market’s attention is now focused on Capitol Hill – will there be a government shutdown? What about the debt ceiling?
Here are two different opinions on the impact of the political debacle on the dollar:
- Debt ceiling and government shutdown concerns weigh on USD
- Debt ceiling and government shutdown concerns weigh on USD
