Construction Spending comes in at -0.5% against -0.2% consensus

Construction Spending month over month in the United States registered a decline of -0.5%. This figure came in below the market consensus expectation of -0.2%. The previous month’s reading was -0.1%. The actual print represented a -150.0% surprise relative to the consensus forecast.

Following the release, the US Dollar showed varied movement against major pairs. Fifteen minutes after the data, AUDUSD was up +1.4 pips, EURUSD was up +5.2 pips, and GBPUSD was up +5.9 pips. NZDUSD gained +2.2 pips. USDCAD moved down -2.7 pips, USDCHF was up +0.3 pips, and USDJPY was down -4.4 pips. Gold, XAUUSD, was up +2.2 pips. These initial movements are relatively small when compared to the typical median 1-hour moves observed after past Construction Spending releases, which include 10 pips for AUDUSD, 12 pips for EURUSD, 16 pips for GBPUSD, 8 pips for NZDUSD, 11 pips for USDCAD, 11 pips for USDCHF, 13 pips for USDJPY, and 36 pips for XAUUSD.