EUR/USD climbed today after Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke hinted at his speech today that additional rounds of asset purchases are possible. The dollar may rebound yet as the Chairman did not say that the stimulating measures are imminent. Today’s fundamental reports were not in favor of stimulus. Consumer confidence improved and factory orders grew. Business activity continued to expand, according to the Chicago PMI, albeit with slower pace.

Chicago PMI fell from 53.7 in July to 53.0 in August on a seasonally adjusted basis, proving analysts, who expected the index to be little changed, wrong. (Event A on the chart.)

Michigan Sentiment Index increased from 72.3 in July to 74.3 in August, according to the revised estimate. Analysts have though that the actual data would be the same as the preliminary 73.6 figure. (Event B on the chart.)

Factory orders grew 2.8% in July. The rate of growth was faster than the expected 1.7%. The June reading was -0.5%. (Event B on the chart.)

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