020 7898 0500The only release of note from the US on Friday was existing home sales, which were very disappointing. Sales of previously owned houses slumped by 3.4% in September, following a revised 0.2% drop in August and far worse than an expected 0.7% decline. It is the smallest posting since November 2015, with one reason being a lower number of properties were for sale which pushed prices up.
The dollar suffered some relatively big losses against the euro and lost some ground against the pound too. When I say relatively big, I mean in the context of recent moves between the pairing. However, the move largely came about as a result of profit taking, so it is reasonable to expect the dollar will bounce back soon.
Things don’t really get going in America until Wednesday, when we will have composite, manufacturing and services PMI for October, as well as new home sales for September. On Wednesday, durable goods orders for September are released, as well as the next instalment of initial jobless claims. Then on Friday, we have the highlight of the week – the GDP growth rate for the third quarter of 2018. It is expected to dip to 3.3% from 4.2% in the second quarter.
