By CountingPips.com
The U.S. Leading Indicators Index published by the Conference Board today increased for the third straight month in June. The Leading Indicator Index, which measures future economic activity, registered a 0.7 percent increase in June following a revised increase of 1.3 percent in May. The index had increased by 1.0 percent in April and the index has gained on an annual basis by 4.1 percent in the last six months. June’s increase beat the market forecasts which were predicting a gain of 0.5 percent for the month.
Stock prices, building permits, interest rate spread, supplier deliveries, manufacturers’ new orders for consumer goods & materials, weekly jobless claims and average weekly manufacturing hours helped positively contribute to the leading index. Real money supply, consumer expectations and manufacturers’ orders for nondefense capital goods were the negative contributors to the leading indicators index for June.
The coincident index, which is viewed as a measure of the current economic activity, decreased by 0.2 percent in June after falling in May by 0.3 percent while the lagging index decreased by 0.7 percent after declining by 0.4 percent in May.
US Dollar falls lower in Forex Trading today.
The U.S. dollar has been lower today against the other major currencies in the spot forex market. The dollar has been weaker versus the euro, British pound, Australian dollar, Canadian dollar, Swiss franc, New Zealand dollar and the Japanese yen.
The euro has advanced versus the dollar as the EUR/USD has maintained its strength past the 1.4200 threshold today to trading at 1.4226 at 2:42 pm after opening the day at 1.4157 at 00:00 GMT according to currency data from Oanda.
The British pound has risen today as the GBP/USD has advanced from its 1.6395 opening exchange rate to trading at 1.6537 usd per gbp. The dollar has traded lower versus the Japanese yen today and the USD/JPY pair is trading at 94.18 after opening at the day at the 94.65 exchange rate.
The dollar has fallen very slightly versus the Canadian loonie today as the USD/CAD trades at the exchange rate of 1.1066 after opening the day at 1.1073 while the dollar has also fallen against the Swiss franc as the USD/CHF trades at 1.0680 after opening at 1.0743 today.
The Australian and New Zealand dollars have both advanced higher today against the USD. The AUD/USD has climbed from its 0.8063 opening rate to trading at 0.8158 later this afternoon. The NZD/USD has increased from its 0.6478 opening to trading at 0.6565 later today.
GBP/USD Chart – The British Pound Sterling rises today versus the US Dollar in forex trading and advances past the 1.6500 threshold.
