USD Buoyed Ahead of Data by Korman Tam

The dollar bounced higher in overnight trading, recovering across the board following yesterday’s sell-off. The greenback edged up to 2.0628 versus the sterling and 1.4730 against the euro. In the coming session, markets will look ahead to Q3 GDP, core PCE prices, weekly jobless claims and new home sales. The economy is seen expanding by 4.8% in the third quarter, up from 3.9% previously. New home sales are expected to slip to 750k units, down from 770k units in September.

The greenback recovered from the declines prompted by the heightened anticipation that the Fed will ease rates again in December following yesterday’s dovish comments from Fed Vice Chairman Kohn. We view the dollar’s strength as a short-term corrective move and look for the downtrend to remain in place against the major currencies.Cable Retreats

Bank of England Governor King spoke before Parliament’s Treasury Committee earlier today, saying the outlook for inflation and growth is less benign. King said the MPC remained focused on meeting the CPI target, but surveys are suggesting the economy is beginning to slow. King said financial market turmoil has tightened credit conditions, and sees the first signs of credit crunch effect likely in housing and property markets. He anticipates output growth to slow while CPI to increase in the short term. King reiterated the Bank remained ready to take further measures to ensure the overnight rate remained in line with the bank rate. Meanwhile, Bank of England board member Blanchflower said that the fear of recession in the US is greater than others think, placing a 50% likelihood for a recession in the US.

Consumer credit for October increased to 1.439 billion sterling, up from 1.322 billion sterling. Mortgage approvals dropped to its lowest level since February 2005, at 88k versus 100k from September. Final M4 money supply edged up by 0.2% m/m and 11.8% y/y in October – marking its lowest annual rate since May 2006.Cable retreated sharply from just shy of 2.0850 yesterday and pulling back to trendline support around 2.0630 in early Thursday trading. We look for the pair to stabilize around the 2.06-figure and expect bullish momentum to push the pair back toward the 2.0850-2.09 region in the coming sessions.