Last week, the US dollar recovered against a bundle of its main competitors, gaining 1.37 percent, and closing the week at the 94.10 level. Recently, the US dollar also hit a four-week high against the Euro.
So far, 9,474,845 coronavirus cases have been reported in the United States, while the death toll currently stands at 236,473. Recently, the number of daily cases hit a monthly record in at least 31 states.
Election day is here, as tensions between Democrats and Republicans continue surging. Joe Biden is leading in the polls, while Trump is threatening with challenging the counting of mail and absentee votes. The greenback is expected to be volatile during the election period.
On Monday last week, the Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago reported that the Chicago Fed National Activity Index stood at 0.27 in September, below the analysts' expectations, and below the previous month's 1.11. New Home Sales went up by 0.959 million in September, lower than August's 0.994 and below the analysts' expectations, who foresaw it to be at 1.025 million.
Last Tuesday, US Census Bureau reported that Durable Goods Orders went up by 1.9 percent in September, over the analysts' expectations who foresaw an increase of 0.5 percent and higher than August's 0.4 percent. Excluding defense, it climbed by 3.4 percent, against the previous month's 0.9 percent and higher than the analysts' expectations, who foresaw it to be at 0.2 percent. Excluding transportation, it went up by 0.8 percent, higher than expected but below August's 1 percent.
Nondefense Capital Goods Orders excluding aircraft went up by 1 percent, higher than the surveyed analysts' expectations who foresaw it to be at 0.5 percent, but below the previous month's 2.1 percent. The Housing Price Index was at 1.5 percent after being at 1.1 percent in July and over the analysts' forecasts, who expected it to be at 0.6 percent. The S&P/Case-Shiller Home Price Indices increased by 5.2 percent in August, after being at 4.1 percent in the previous month and over the analysts' expectations, who foresaw it to be at 4.2 percent.
On Wednesday, the President of Dallas Federal Reserve Bank said during an online event organized by the Houston Hispanic Chamber of Commerce, that although the economy is set to contract by 2.5 percent this year, he expects it to rebound by 3.5 percent next year.
On Thursday, the Bureau of Economic Analysis published the quarterly Core Personal Consumption Expenditures, which stood at 3.5 percent, below the analysts' expectations but higher than the previous quarter's 0.8 percent contraction. Initial jobless claims were at 751.000 on the week of October 23, dropping from the previous 791.000 and better than what the analysts expected, as they foresaw it to be at 775.000.
The gross domestic product went up by 33.1 percent in the third quarter, recovering from the previous quarter's 31.4 percent contraction and over the analysts' forecasts, who expected it to climb by 31 percent.
On Friday, the Bureau of Economic Analysis reported that personal spending went up by 1.4 percent in September, over the previous month's 1 percent, and higher the analysts' expectations, who foresaw it to be at 1 percent. ISM-Chicago published the Chicago Purchasing Managers' Index for October, which stood at 61.1, over the expectations but below the previous month's 62.4. The Michigan Consumer Sentiment Index for October stood at 81.8, after being at 81.2 in the previous month and over the analysts' expectations, who foresaw it to remain unchanged.