Forex Blog - Forex News & Currency Analysis

The US Dollar’s safe haven appeal came back strong on Tuesday, after several months of hiatus in the Forex market. The flow into the Dollar was spurred on by a report showing a drastic decline in US consumer confidence was released.

The data came as a shock to the markets just in advance of the Holiday shopping season, indicating lower consumer spending – a category that accounts for 68% of the US economy.  The data, which was at 53.4 in September, fell by 5.7 to 47.7, way off of the 53.9 consensus estimate.

Today, durable goods order numbers are released and could determine if the rally in the Dollar can be sustained. While it is widely thought that the amount of orders will increase, however given the surprise drop in consumer confidence – which typically spells poor retail sales the following month – a disappointment is possible.

At 10:20 GMT, the US Dollar was trading at 1.4793 to the Euro, up .54% and up .2% versus the British Pound to 1.637.  The Dollar traded down .39% against the Yen to 91.81 after a very choppy session, and up to the Swiss Franc .42% to hold at 1.0223.