The European Single Currency appreciated against the US Dollar, following the United States Retail Sales data release on Friday at 12:30 GMT. The EUR/USD exchange currency rate gained 12 pips or 0.10% during a minute, right after the release.
The Census Bureau released US Retail Sales data that came out lower-than-expected of 0.1%, compared to forecasted 0.4%. Economists and traders closely monitor the US Retail sales because they provide an early read on consumer spending, which drives about two-thirds of the US economic activity.
The August's US Retail Sales 0.1% growth was the weakest growth in the past 6 months due to automobile and clothing sale decrease. That compares to the 0.5% gain from July and missed economists' forecast for 0.4 %, but remained up 6.6 %year-over-year.
| Historical Data Table: Retail Sales m/m | Economic Calendar for 18.09.2018 | ||||||||
| Date | 16.04.2018 | 15.05.2018 | 16.07.2018 | 15.08.2018 | 14.09.2018 | 1:30 AM | AUD Monetary Policy Meeting Minutes | ||
| Actual | 0.60% | 0.30% | 0.50% | 0.50% | 0.10% | 7:15 AM | Europe ECB President Draghi Speaks | ||
| Forecast | 0.40% | 0.40% | 0.40% | 0.10% | 0.40% | 12:30 PM | CAD Manufacturing Sales m/m | ||
| Initial Reaction on Main Pairs | SWFX Sentiment Indexes | ||||||||
| Open Price | Close Price | % Change | Longs | Shorts | |||||
| AUD/USD | 0.71906 | 0.71876 | -0.04% | AUD/USD | 64.02% | 35.98% | |||
| EUR/USD | 1.16932 | 1.16971 | 0.03% | EUR/USD | 58.16% | 41.84% | |||
| USD/JPY | 111.847 | 111.847 | 0.00% | USD/JPY | 42.41% | 57.59% | |||
| NZD/USD | 0.65788 | 0.65794 | 0.01% | NZD/USD | 56.07% | 43.93% | |||