Monday, November 30, 2009

Dollar Edges Higher

The dollar was mixed against the majors, climbing higher against the euro to 1.4628 but sliding versus the British pound past the 1.64-level to 1.6419. Spot gold rose to a new record high above the $1,080-mark to $1,083.50 per ounce while crude oil continued to trade beneath $80-per barrel.

The US economic reports released earlier today saw September durable goods and factory orders. The headline durable goods orders increased by 1.4% in September versus 1.0% previously, while the ex-transportations figure rose by 1.2% from 0.9% in August. Meanwhile, factory orders reversed the 0.8% decline in August, increasing by 0.9%.

The key highlight on Wednesday will be the ADP private sector payrolls, which are seen improving to reflect a loss of 188.0k jobs in October from 254.0k jobs a month earlier. Also due out tomorrow will be the October non-manufacturing ISM report, estimated to improve to 51.8 from 50.9 in September.