The dollar is currently gaining ground against its major competitors on Tuesday, following a series of better than expected U.S. economic reports. The Euro and pound sterling experienced gains in early trading, after the Eurozone and the IMF reached a deal on Greece.
New orders for U.S. manufactured durable goods came in essentially unchanged in the month of October, according to a report released by the Commerce Department on Tuesday, with a drop in orders for transportation equipment offsetting strength in other sectors.
The report showed that durable goods orders edged up by less than a tenth of a percent in October after surging up by a revised 9.2 percent in September. Economists had been expecting orders to decrease by about 0.8 percent.
Home prices in major U.S. metropolitan areas saw a slightly stronger than expected annual rate of growth in the month of September, according to a report released by Standard & Poor’s on Tuesday.
The report said the S&P/Case-Shiller 20-City Composite Home Price Index saw a 3.0 percent annual increase in September compared to the 2.0 percent year-over-year growth seen in August. Economists had expected prices to increase by about 2.9 percent.
Consumer confidence in the U.S. showed a continued improvement in the month of November, according to a report released by the Conference Board on Tuesday, with the consumer confidence index rising to its highest level in over four years.
The Conference Board said its consumer confidence index climbed to 73.7 in November from an upwardly revised 73.1 in October. Economists had expected the index to edge up to 72.8 from the 72.2 originally reported for the previous month.
The Eurozone and the International Monetary Fund reached an agreement on a new bailout program for debt-stricken Greece. The agreement came late Monday at the end of almost 10 hours of negotiations. The EU and IMF said Greece’s sovereign long-term debt would be reduced by 40 billion euros or 124 percent of gross domestic product by the year 2020.
The initiatives agreed at the meeting included Greek debt buybacks, return of Securities Market Programme (SMP) profits to Greece, reduction of Greek Loan Facility (GLF) interest rates, significant extension of the loan facility and European Financial Stability Facility (EFSF) maturities, and the deferral of EFSF interest rate payments.
European partners have decided to bring back Greece’s debt to substantially below 110 percent of GDP by 2022, conditional on full implementation of the program by Greece. “This represents a major debt reduction for Greece relative to its current debt trajectory,” Lagarde said.
After the meeting, the Eurogroup has concluded that “necessary elements are now in place” for Eurozone states to launch the relevant national procedures required for the approval of the next EFSF disbursement, which amounts to 43.7 billion euros.
The dollar reached an early low of $1.3008 against the Euro Tuesday morning, but has since climbed to around $1.2935.
Germany’s import price inflation slowed to 1.5 percent annually in October, the Federal Statistical Office said Tuesday. Economists had forecast the annual rate to remain unchanged at 1.8 percent.
Month-on-month, import prices were down 0.6 percent, compared to a 0.7 percent drop a month ago. It was forecast to ease just 0.3 percent in October.
Sentiment among French consumers remained unchanged in November, the latest report from statistical office Insee showed Tuesday. The headline synthetic index scored 84 in November, unchanged from the October reading. Economists expected the reading to fall to 83.
The buck slipped to low of $1.6055 against the pound sterling on Tuesday, but has since inched back to around $1.6025.
The U.K. economy exited double-dip recession as previously expected in the third quarter, as the nation gained widespread support from spending and investment. The Olympic Games were a major factor behind the recovery that was hard hit by the government’s fiscal consolidation and weak global demand.
Gross domestic product grew 1 percent sequentially in the third quarter, ending three straight quarters of contraction, second estimates published by the Office for National Statistics showed Tuesday. It was the biggest expansion since the third quarter of 2007. The growth follows a 0.4 percent decline in the second quarter and a 0.3 percent drop in the first quarter of 2012.
An indicator of British service sector output declined in September compared to the previous month, data from the Office for National Statistics showed Tuesday. The seasonally adjusted index of services fell 0.5 percent month-on-month in September, in line with expectations.
The greenback rebounded from yesterday’s low of Y81.848 against the Japanese Yen on Tuesday, to around Y82.210.
An index measuring corporate service prices was down 0.7 percent on year in October, the Bank of Japan said on Tuesday, standing at 95.5. That missed forecasts for a decline of 0.6 percent on year following the 0.5 percent fall in September.