The mood of American shoppers deteriorated for the second consecutive month in May. The Conference Board reported on Tuesday that its Consumer Confidence Index dropped to 117.9 points in the reported month, falling behind expectations for 120.1 points. Apart from that, April's reading was revised down to 119.4 from initially reported 120.3 points. The share of consumers saying business conditions were "good" fell to 29.4% from 30.8% in April, whereas the share of those saying business conditions were "bad" remained unchanged at 13.7% in May. The share of shoppers expecting business conditions to improve over the next six months fell to 21.3% from 25.1% in April, whereas the share of those expecting more jobs to be created over the same period of time declined to 18.6% in May from 21.9% in the preceding month.
Meanwhile, 29.9% of the respondents stated that there were plentiful jobs, compared to 30.3% in April. Earlier in the day, the Commerce Department reported that consumer spending climbed 0.4% last month, the largest gain since December. Overall, US consumers maintained the positive outlook for the economy.
US Manufacturing PMI and ADP Employment Change
USD/JPY: no significant changes expected
The USD/JPY pair's behavior fell in line with expectations yesterday, as the exchange rate remained relatively unchanged and no level of significance was pierced. Technically, the Greenback should rebound today, with the weekly S1 providing the required bullish momentum, but with the immediate resistance, namely thee 55-day SMA and the weekly PP, still remaining intact. On the other hand, technical indicators suggest the given pair is to decline today, which would make it the fifth consecutive drop. Poor ADP figures today could be the catalyst for a possible loss, however, it should not exceed 50 pips.Daily chart
There are 53% of traders holding short positions today, compared to 57% on Wednesday. At the same time, the share of sell orders edged significantly higher, namely from 45 to 70%.
At the moment, 56% of OANDA clients are long the US Dollar against the Yen, while the remaining 44% are short. In addition, Saxo Bank clients' sentiment remained unchanged over the day, as 61% of their open positions are still long.
Spreads (avg, pip) / Trading volume / Volatility
Traders are becoming increasingly bullish on the Dollar