US retail sales rose more than expected in October due to Americans starting holiday shopping early with some merchandise in short supply as the pandemic continues. Retail sales jumped 1.7% m/m, while September's reading was revised up to 0.8%, marking the third consecutive month of increase.
In the wake of the data, gold prices fell to 1859 dollars per ounce, while the dollar index rose to its highest level since July 2020 around 95.73 levels.
Also, the Dow Jones index achieved noticeable gains at the beginning of the American session, driven by the positive reading. In addition to the industrial production data, which recorded a strong increase in October by 1.6%, after production recorded a decline in September by 1.3%. According to the Federal Reserve, half of the gains that occurred in October reflect the recovery from Hurricane Ida's impact.
The index is currently trading above yesterday's peak above the 36,260 points levels. From a technical perspective, if the index remained above 36260, it could continue its rise until the levels of 36,340/36,430 points.
In the currency world, the euro continues to decline against most of its competitors, which reached its lowest level against the US dollar since mid-July of 2020, around 1.1340 levels and is close to visiting the 1.1290 level, which represents the 61.8% Fibonacci correction level for the upward movement from March 2020 to January 2021.
The bearish bias of the euro is mainly due to Christine Lagarde comments. The European Central Bank President stated that it is too early to tighten monetary policy amid expectations that inflation will ease by the end of next year. The preliminary data for the gross domestic product of the euro area did not provide sufficient support for the euro after the economy achieved growth in the quarter The third of 2021, at 2.2%.
