The USD/SGD held steady on Friday as the market reflected on the mixed American economic data and the latest Singapore trade numbers. The pair rose to 1.3460, which was about 0.65% above the lowest level this month.
Singapore trade data
The USD/SGD key mover was the latest Singapore trade data. According to Singapore Statistics, non-oil exports rose by 2.7% in August, which was lower than the previous month’s increase of 12.7%. The July increase reflected a high base a year ago. The sales fell by 3.6% on a month-over-month basis. In total, the country’s NODX was s$15.5 billion.
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In the same period, non-oil imports rose by 19% after rising by 13.9% in the previous month. The country imported goods worth more than s$7.3 billion, down by about s$1.7 billion on the previous month. This brought the toral trade surplus to more than s%7 billion.
These numbers show that the Singapore economy is doing modestly well even as the South East Asia region faces a tough Covid situation. Data published earlier this month showed that Singapore’s retail sales numbers rose by 0.2% in July to more than s$3.4 billion. Excluding motor vehicles, the sales rose by 2% to s$2.9 billion.
The USD/SGD is also reacting to the latest American economic numbers. Data published earlier this week revealed that the country’s consumer price index (CPI) fell from 5.4% to 5.3% in August. Similarly, the core consumer price index data declined from 4.3% to 4.0%. And on Thursday, numbers revealed that the US retail sales expanded at a faster rate than expected.
USD/SGD forecast
The four-hour chart shows that the USD/SGD pair has been in a bullish trend in the past few days. The pair is trading at 1.3460, which is slightly below the key resistance level at 1.3470. This was the lowest level on August 4. It also moved slightly above the 25-day and 50-day moving averages while the MACD has been in a strong bullish trend.
Therefore, the pair will likely break out higher in the near term. This view will be confirmed if it manages to move above the key resistance at 1.3470.
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