Foreign Exchange Market Update

August 4, 2022

United States (U.S.): Trade Deficit Narrows More Than Expected in June; Weekly Jobless Claims Inch Up To 260,000

Reflecting a jump in exports and a modest decrease in imports, the Commerce Department released a report on Thursday showing the U.S. trade deficit narrowed by more than expected in June. The report showed the trade deficit narrowed to $79.6 billion in June from a revised $84.9 billion in May. Economists had expected the trade deficit to shrink to $81.9 billion from the $85.5 billion originally reported for the previous month. The decrease in the size of the trade deficit came as the value of exports surged by 1.7% to $260.8 billion. Meanwhile, imports' value decreased by 0.3% to $340.8 billion. 08/04/2022 - 08:46:00 (RTTNews)

A day before the release of the more closely watched monthly jobs report, the Labor Department released a report on Thursday showing a modest increase in first-time claims for U.S. unemployment benefits in the week ended July 30. The report showed that initial jobless claims crept up to 260,000, an increase of 6,000 from the previous week's revised level of 254,000. Economists had expected jobless claims to inch up to 259,000 from the 256,000 originally reported in the prior week. The Labor Department said the less volatile four-week moving average also edged to 254,750, an increase of 6,000 from the previous week's revised average of 248,750. 08/04/2022 - 08:37:00 (RTTNews)

Germany: Factory Orders Fall Less Than Expected in June

Germany’s factory orders declined less than expected in June as the fall in foreign demand was partially offset by the improvement in domestic orders, data published by Destatis showed. Factory orders decreased 0.4% in June, after a 0.2% drop in May. Nonetheless, this was slower than the economists' forecast of -0.8%. Excluding major orders, new orders grew 0.4% from a month ago. The decline wasprimarily due to the 4.3% fall in orders from the non-euro area countries, while orders from the euro area climbed 3.4%. As a result, foreign demand was down 1.4%.

*On the other hand, domestic orders gained 1.1%. The producers of capital goods registered a decline of 1.8%. Meanwhile, orders for intermediate goods increased by 1.2%, and those for consumer goods increased by 1.7%. YoY, the decline in factory orders deepened to 9.0% from 3.2% in the previous month. Data showed that manufacturing turnover grew 3.0% per month, following a 2.5% increase. On a yearly basis, turnover gained 3.4%. Industrial production data for June is due on August 5. Output is forecast to fall 0.3% in June, reversing a 0.2% rise in May. Elsewhere, the construction Purchasing Managers' survey showed a deepening downturn in construction activity in July. The construction Purchasing Managers' Index fell to 43.7 in July from 45.9 in June. The score signaled the steepest fall since February 2021. 08/04/2022 - 05:21:00 (RTTNews)