overnight news and headlines

FOREX News & Overnight Technical Levels - October 18th

Thursday, 18 October 2007 11:08:14 GMT  |  John Kicklighter, Currency Analyst

Fundamental Headlines

• USDJPY - Nationwide department store sales drop 2.5 percent while those in Tokyo contract 2.1 percent. Volatilty in these readings continues with confidence near three year lows and spending habits cooling.
• USDCHF - Trade surplus jumps to SFr 1.798 billion last month, to overtake the SFr 1.778 billion high set in September of last year. New balance is the highest on records going back to 1989.
• GBPUSD - Retail sales grow 0.6 percent last month, versus tepid forecasts of a 0.1 percent increase. Year-over-year sales pace hits a three-year high 6.3 percent.
• GBPUSD - Money Supply growth steps up 1.0 percent in September, leading the annual figure to a 12.5 percent pace, both measurements better than expected, suggesting inflation and lending have survived the liquidity seizure.
• EURUSD - Euro Zone trade balance surplus unexpectedly widens to 4.3 billion euros in August thanks in part to 4.9 percent surge in exports.

• IMF says dollar ‘overvalued’ (link) - FT
• China Stocks Slump on Arbitrage Proposal; Hong Kong Shares Gain (link) - Bloomberg
• HSBC Faces No Obstacle to Lift Stake in China's BOCOM (link) - Bloomberg
• Fed's Dudley says market adjustment "far from over" (link) - Reuters
• ECB's Weber says medium-term inflation risks have risen lately (link) - Forbes
• China yuan convertibility 'policy objective'; no timetable set - central banker (link) - Forbes
• Russia Will Raise World Bank Donations, Enhancing Global Role (link) - Bloomberg

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