Friday, 11 Dec 2009

Volatility Expected Following U.S. Retail Sales Report

Following a report stating that neither the United States or Britain were in danger of loosing their sovereign credit rating, investors reverted to risk taking in morning trading. As a result, GBP made slight gains while the Yen reported losses against the Euro and U.S. Dollar. Following yesterday's gains for the Australian and New Zealand Dollars today saw more restrained trading. Both the AUD and NZD saw losses against the Dollar, but moderate gains against the Yen.

Following a better then forecasted retail sales report, the U.S. Dollar may see gains in afternoon trading today. Monthly retail sales of 1.3% were far better then the 0.6% predicted, and was more or less on par with last months figures. Traders may want to pay attention to how this effects the USD/EUR and the USD/JPY pairs, as volatility is likely in the near future. On the other hand, if the positive economic news leads to more risk taking among investors, the Dollar may see losses against its major counterparts.