NEW YORK, Oct 10 - The following are comments from debt and currency market analysts on Friday after the U.S. Labor Department reported the September producer price index rose 0.3 pct, compared to a rise of 0.4 pct in August. The PPI excluding food and energy was unchanged in September, after a 0.1 pct rise in August. Meanwhile the U.S. Commerce Department reported the August trade deficit fell to $39.21 billion from $40.03 billion in July. August exports fell 2.7 pct to $83.69 billion, while August imports fell 2.5 pct to $122.90 billion.
MARCEL KASUMOVICH, HEAD OF G10 FOREIGN EXCHANGE STRATEGY, MERRILL LYNCH, NEW YORK:
"The trade numbers are better both in real and nominal terms. It tells you that trade won't be drag in the third quarter. However, two caveats: it is better because global activity was terrible. The other caveat is that civilian aircraft orders -- exports and imports -- were both down. The dollar's initial positive reaction makes sense because people will be revising up their GDP estimates, but ultimately the trade data is not a favorable sign of activity."
ASHA BANGALORE, ECONOMIST, NORTHERN TRUST CO., CHICAGO
"The PPI came in higher than expected. There's no inflationary threat coming from here and I think the Fed is mostly like to stay on hold at the Oct 28 meeting. On the trade gap, I think exports were affected partly due to the power shutdown, so you had a decline in exports."//