Exports rose as U.S. consumption of oil declined, helping to narrow the trade deficit in the month of August.  According to the U.S. Commerce Department report this morning in New York, the gap between imports and exports in the world’s largest economy slimmed down by 3.6 percent to just under $30.7 billion.  The main driver in the positive news came from the fact that U.S. made goods were increasingly attractive to overseas consumers on the weakened value of the greenback during the last four months.  A good piece of news, the report is likely to have a rather weak effect on the market as concerns over budgetary and monetary policy continue to weigh on the underlying dollar ahead of the weekend.  The sentiment is countering earlier comments by Federal Reserve Chief Ben Bernanke.  During a Board of Governor’s conference yesterday, Bernanke noted that interest rates would be raised in the near future should economic conditions improve greatly.  However, with the economy still on the road to recovery, the view can be maintained that rates in the U.S. will likely be the last to change among G-7 countries

Tags: FX Market, US Dollar, US Trade Deficit

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