The dollar finds new supporters and signs up for its 4th week in a row.
the ‘$-Index’ rises +0.2% to 104.25 (this is the gap observed between the yen, the pound and the euro), bringing its weekly gain to +0.7%, and the upward movement to +4% since September 22.
The Euro thus retreated by -0.2% to 1.0800 (after testing 1.0840 during the session): German business sentiment nevertheless rose slightly, by +1.1Pt, and the IFO business climate index rose from 85.4 in September to 86.5 this month, whereas Capital Economics had expected it to fall slightly to 85.
Symmetrically, in France, household confidence fell slightly for the first time since April, with the Insee synthetic indicator dropping by one point to 94 in October, and thus remaining below its long-term average (100).
In the U.S., the dollar continues to gain ground, with T-Bonds up +2.1pts to 4.222% (the same level as on July 26), and the 30-yr bond up +2.4pts to 4.492%, i.e. +15pts over the week.
The “figures of the day” did not hurt the greenback: durable goods orders fell by 0.8% in September in the U.S., but less than expected, whereas economists were anticipating a 1% decline.
Excluding transportation and the aeronautics sector (impacted by the strike at Boeing), orders actually rose by 0.4% after a 0.5% increase in August, instead of the -0.1% decline expected.
The University of Michigan’s consumer confidence index finally improved slightly in October, according to the index calculated by the University of Michigan (UMich), which came in at 70.5, revised from a preliminary estimate of 68.9, and after 70.1 in September.
This month-on-month rise in the index reflects a clear upturn in the current assessment component (+1.6 points to 64.9), while the expectations component eased by 0.3 points to 74.1.
Across the Channel, Gilts tightened by +4.3 points to 4.2810%, i.e. +22.5 points over the week (same level as mid-May)… but this did not prevent the Pound from retreating by 0.2% against the dollar.
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