By CountingPips.com
The U.S. economy contracted in the first quarter of 2009 by less than previously reported according to the U.S. Commerce Department. The final GDP report released today showed that the U.S. Gross Domestic Product contracted by 5.5 percent in the January to March 2009 quarter following a real GDP contraction of 6.3 percent in the fourth quarter of 2008. The preliminary estimate released last month had shown that first quarter GDP had contracted by 5.7 percent. The first quarter decline marks the first time since the 1974-1975 period that GDP has shrunk for three quarters in a row.
Contributing to the decreased GDP for the first quarter were declines in business inventories, exports and housing. Exports declined sharply in the quarter as exports of goods and services decreased by 30.6 percent after falling by 23.6 percent in the fourth quarter. On the positive side, consumer spending, which makes up approximately two-thirds of U.S. economic activity, increased in the first quarter by 1.4 percent after decreasing sharply in the previous two quarters.
Forex – U.S. dollar mixed in Forex Trading.
The U.S. dollar has been mixed in forex trading today after having a strong day yesterday against most of the major currencies. The dollar has increased versus the British pound and Canadian dollar while declining against the euro, Australian dollar, New Zealand dollar and the Japanese yen. The dollar is trading about unchanged against the Swiss franc on the day.
The euro has advanced versus the USD today as the EUR/USD trades near the 1.4000 level at 1.3993 in the afternoon of the US trading session at 3:31pm EST after opening the day at 1.3968 (00:00 GMT) according to currency data from Oanda.
The British pound is losing ground for the second straight day versus the USD today as the GBP/USD trades at 1.6378 after opening the day at 1.6444.
The dollar has lost ground against the Japanese yen today as the USD/JPY has decreased from its 96.08 opening to trading at 95.87.
The dollar is slightly up for the day against the Canadian dollar after opening at 1.1541 earlier today to trading at 1.1559 later.
The USD is virtually unchanged against the Swiss franc today after gaining yesterday by approximately 300 pips after likely Swiss National Bank intervention.
The Australian dollar is trading just slightly higher versus the USD as the AUD/USD trades at 0.8008 after opening today at 0.7998 while the New Zealand dollar has also increased versus the USD as the NZD/USD trades at 0.6438 after opening the day’s trading at 0.6405.
EUR/USD Chart – The Euro gaining today versus the US Dollar in Forex Trading and hovering around the key 1.4000 level.
