The US dollar continued lower against the euro and British pound, as renewed speculative interest added to greenback-short positioning through early-session New York trade. A mildly positive Wholesale Sales report failed to lift the downtrodden currency, as forex traders took the dollar's recent strength to add to Euro positions.
The European single currency rallied 65 points to intraday highs of $1.4170, but a later moderation in US dollar selling left it at $1.4142 through time of writing. The British Pound Sterling was similarly bid, setting a multi-week peak of $2.0475 before scaling back ahead of the New York session close. Poor performance in the Dow and S&P 500 allowed the Japanese Yen to hold its ground against the dollar, which remained nearly flat at 117.23 Yen
Morning Wholesale Inventories data lent little support to US financial markets, falling below consensus forecasts and showing tepid growth through August. Wholesale Sales were marginally improved at a 0.4 percent gain on the month, but the closely-watched Inventory to Sales ratio remained at record-lows of 1.11. Such a number indicates that wholesalers have enough inventory for 31 days of sales - hardly indicative of a positive outlook for growth. The US dollar fell in the moments immediately following the report's release. Traders fear that a tepid Wholesale Inventories result will produce a similarly uninspiring outcome in the key Advance Retail Sales report due Friday morning.
Mediocre economic data and a pessimistic outlook for third quarter earnings pushed stocks sharply lower on the day, erasing yesterday's gains before a bounce ahead of the close. The Dow Jones Industrial Average shed 85 points to 14,079, recovering slightly from earlier triple-digit losses. The S&P 500 was significantly less affected by renewed skittishness, inching 2.68 points lower to 1,562. All the while, tech stocks were actually marginally higher on the day; the NASDAQ Composite gained 7.70 at 2,811.61.
Trading in treasury bonds was significantly less eventful, as speculators remained on the sidelines after ahead of later-week event risk. Yields on the 2-Year Treasury Note added a single basis point to 4.14 percent, while the 10-Year shed 1bp to 4.64 percent.
By: DailyFX
