US economic data continues to come out surprisingly poor, leading to concerns that recovery in the United States is losing momentum. As a result, EUR/USD advanced today. The rally was limited as there were speculations that the data was distorted by bad weather and the actual economic conditions are not that bad. Still, it is expected that the second estimate of gross domestic product, which will be released this week, will receive a downward revision from the first report.
S&P/
Richmond Fed manufacturing index dropped to â6 in February following the January’s reading of 12. (Event B on the chart.) It was a total surprise to experts who have expected a small increase to 13. The report said:
As a result of bad weather a few survey participants reported that manufacturing facilities experienced downtime in February, with some reductions in shipments.
Consumer confidence fell to 78.1 in February down from 79.4 in January, completely missing the economists’ projection of 80.2. (Event B on the chart.)
On Friday, a report on existing home sales was released, showing a drop to the seasonally adjusted annual rate of 4.62 million in January from 4.87 million in December. This is compared to the median estimate of 7.73 million. (Not shown on the chart.)
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