A disappointment from the US consumer: no change in retail sales and a rise of only +0.1% in July 2014, the first month of the third quarter. US retail sales were expected to rise by 0.2% in July, and core retail sales by 0.4%. The same figures were recorded in June. This is a direct pulse check of the US consumer.
Towards the publication, EUR/USD traded steadily around 1.3360, GBP/USD was knocked down to just above 1.67 and USD/JPY climbed to around 102.40. The USD is sliding with EUR/USD climbing to 1.3380– more coming
Also other core measures (ex-autos, ex autos and gas, etc.) are all short of expectations and unexciting.
Earlier in the week, the US published the JOLTS Job Openings report, an employment report eyed by the Fed. It came out at 4.671 million, marginally lower than expected, but still a new post-crisis high.
The next big release in the markets is of euro-zone GDP, and especially the release from the largest country, Germany.
See how to trade the German GDP with EURUSD.
