The strongest trend in the market appears to be the bullishness of gold. Gold continues to break new records on a daily basis, and with a week packed with publications from the U.S economy entering, the main question is, can gold reach higher?
Economic News
USD - Dollar Continues to Weaken Following Disappointing Data
The Dollar continued to weaken during last week's trading session. The Dollar extends its slow yet steady slide against the Euro, and the EUR/USD pair is reaching towards the 1.50 level again. The Dollar also depreciated against the Yen and the Pound.
The main reason for the Dollar's drop appears to be the disappointing data published from the U.S economy. The U.S Trade Balance, which measured the difference in value between imported and exported goods and services during September, dropped to -36.5B, much lower than the -31.8B expected. This has both positive and negative sides. From one hand, the American citizens are consuming more, stating that the economy is recovering. However, on the other hand, it also states that the export industry fails to reach its levels prior the recession. It seems that investors have focused on the negative view of this publication. Also last week, the Preliminary Consumer Sentiment failed to reach expectations for a 71.1 figure, and reached merely 66.0, its lowest result in 4 months. This shows that the U.S consumers still prefer to hold on to their funds, and are not hurry to spend them. In other words, American people still don't have enough confidence in their financial security.
As for the week ahead, many interesting publications are expected from the U.S economy. Traders should focus on the Retail Sales reports, the Producer Price Index, the Consumer Price Index, the Building Permits and the weekly Unemployment Claims. As for today, traders are also advised to follow the speech by Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke, which is expected at 17:15 GMT. Lately his speeches had an instant impact on the market, and traders should take advantage of the opportunities that may arise as a result.
EUR - Euro Sees Mixed Results against the Majors
The Euro saw a volatile session against the major currencies during last week's trading. The Euro managed to strengthen against the Dollar, yet saw mixed results against the Yen and the Pound.
Despite the weak Dollar, the Euro didn't manage to strengthen against the major currencies. Usually, when the Dollar is so weak, the Euro gets stronger, yet last week this axiom failed to exist. The main reason that the Euro didn't strengthen appears to be the negative data released from the German economy. German Economic Sentiment dropped in November to its lowest result in 4 months, reaching merely 51.1, far less than the expected 55.2 figure.
