FX Closing Comments

The Dollar is soft today, even as the ISM manufacturing index rose to 54.7, above expectations in July. Construction spending was also up 0.3% in June to record level. One would have thought that such news would have increased the likelihood of an August rate hike, which it did, but even still, the Dollar slumped. The biggest gainer was the British Pound were the influential Nationwide housing survey showed higher-than-expected gains in home prices. This development increased the odds of BoE upward move, possibly as early as September.
Service sector PMI figures are due in Europe tomorrow, along with retail sales data.