US Retail Sales Drop Sharply, USD Waiting for Fed’s Decision

Nothing is more important than the Fed’s decision today, and it is usual these days for the markets to prevail in a calm state before the decision. Still, there were many moves today, so the US retail and export statistics data may contribute to market volatility.

The monthly core retail sales data increased by 0.5%, less than the 0.8% forecast, and the percentage for April was negatively revised to 0.4%.

Also, the monthly retail sales decreased by -0.3%, while experts had expected it to increase by 0.2%.

On an annual basis, retail sales increased by 8.09%, less than expected, and last month’s data was revised to turn 7.82% instead of 8.19% expected.

The Empire State Manufacturing Index fell sharply -1.2 points, instead of the 3 points expected by Dow Jones experts.

And the US exports index for May recorded an increase of 2.8%, which is higher than expected by 1.3%, while imports increased by 0.6%, which is less than expectations of 1.1%.

Gold pushed higher, rising by $25 to $1833.8 an ounce, up 1.38%, while silver rose by 3.2% to trade at $21.655.

The main dollar index is currently trading at 105.015, down by 0.31%, hours before the release of the Fed’s decision, which will determine the market’s trend.