The US Dollar got an unexpected nudge up on the release of better than expected Existing Home Sales data for February. Helped by relatively mild weather, existing home sales rose by a seasonally adjusted annualised rate of 6.91 million, higher than the 6.52 million predicted. Additionally, the figure for January was revised up to 6.57 million from 6.56 million. Whether or not this is a statistic that has the importance to indicate what the Federal Reserve will decide at the FOMC meeting next week is doubtful. But it was released when the market was complacent that nothing would happen and comfortable to just sit and wait for next Tuesday. Ideal conditions to hit stops and test market resolve.
The US Dollar was pushed by forex traders to its best level for 9 days against the Euro. Trading at 1.2060 just before the release of the economic data the US Dollar gained 90 pips very quickly. Certainly all support for the Euro single currency disappeared very quickly. It has settled at the end of the European trading day at around 1.1980. Resistance sits just above at 1.1990/ 1.2000 with no real support indicated until we get to 1.1940 and 1.1915.

The British Pound also fell to its lowest level for over 1 week. Cable was pushed just over 100 pips lower to 1.7340 in the half an hour after the data release. Sterling touched a low of 1.7325 before recovering to close at around 1.7355 in European trading. The British Pound was supported by the conclusion of the March CBI Industrial Trends Survey. It had a stronger tone than expected, the Confederation of British Industry said output expectations are at their highest since February 2005. This rather supports the Bank of England MPC stance that recovery is steady but there is a need to be vigilant for inflationary pressure. Resistance in the British Pound would appear to be at 1.7375 with not a great deal of support underneath until maybe 1.7315 and certainly at 1.7290.