Daily FX Wrap Up

While many traders were focused on the US Weekly Jobless Claims Report, the economic data out of the UK was quite a mixed bag. The retail sector proved far more resilient than industrial businesses. First up was the retail sales numbers, which unexpectedly beat expectations for the second month in a row. November posted a gain of 0.3%. Clothing and household goods showed strong increases, while non-store sales were up a full 2.9%, signaling a surge in Internet sales. The second UK report was the CBI Industrial Orders Survey which posted a slight improvement to -5 in December from -6 from November. Export orders index fell to -5 from +3, but output expectations rose by a solid 6 points. Starting the day the Great Britton Pound traded at 2.3695 verses the Swiss Franc and had a steady rally to 2.3820. XPRESSTRADE Analyst David Hilgeman