Personal Spending m/m comes in at 0.2% against 0.5% consensus

The Personal Spending m/m for the United States came in at 0.2%, released today at 12:35 UTC. This figure was below the consensus expectation of 0.5% and also lower than the previous month’s reading of 0.3%. The actual print represented a -60.0% surprise compared to the consensus forecast.

Following the release, the US Dollar generally strengthened against major currencies. AUDUSD was down 7.2 pips, EURUSD fell 9.1 pips, and GBPUSD declined by 16 pips after 15 minutes. NZDUSD was down 9.9 pips. USDCAD gained 6.6 pips, USDCHF rose 8.5 pips, and USDJPY was up 17 pips. Gold, XAUUSD, moved down 64 pips. For context, the 15-minute moves for most pairs are currently below their median 1-hour moves observed after past releases. For example, EURUSD typically sees a median 1-hour move of 11 pips, while GBPUSD typically moves 13 pips. XAUUSD’s 64 pip move is above its median 1-hour move of 29 pips and also above its top-quarter move of 50+ pips.