Dollar Mixed After U.S. GDP Data

01:21, 28th February 2015

(RTTNews) - The U.S. dollar turned mixed against its major rivals on Friday, after data showed that the economic growth was slower than previously estimated in the final three months of 2014.

The U.S. gross domestic product increased by a downwardly revised 2.2 percent in the fourth quarter compared to the previously reported 2.6 percent growth, according to a revised report released by the Commerce Department. The growth represents a notable slowdown from the 5.0 percent jump seen in the third quarter.

Despite the downward revision, the pace of GDP growth during the fourth quarter still came in slightly above economist estimates for a 2.1 percent increase.

The greenback was lower in previous deals, amid investor bets that its overnight rally was overdone. Better-than-expected U.S. durable goods orders and inflation numbers, excluding food and energy, supported the currency yesterday.

The greenback slipped to 1.1244 against the euro in early deals and was broadly unchanged after the data. The pair closed Thursday's trading at 1.1196.

Germany's consumer prices in February rose unexpectedly from a year ago, after declining for the first time in more than five years in the previous month, preliminary data from Destatis showed.

The consumer price index rose 0.1 percent year-on-year following 0.4 percent fall in January. Economists had forecast a 0.3 percent decline. The January decrease was the first since September 2009.

The greenback was trading higher at 119.34 against the yen, reversing from an early low of 119.11. The greenback is likely to find resistance around the 120.00 level.

Consumer prices in Japan were up 2.4 percent on year in January, data from the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications showed.

Core consumer prices were up 2.2 percent on year, below forecasts for 2.3 percent and down from 2.5 percent last month.

The greenback showed a mild recovery against the franc, trading at 0.9496, off early session's low of 0.9449. The pair closed deals at 0.9523 on Thursday.

The greenback came off from an early 4-day high of 1.5383 against the pound and was trading around 1.5424. At yesterday's close, the pair was valued at 1.5403.

U.K. house prices grew at the slowest pace in nine months in January, data from the Land Registry revealed.

House prices grew 6.7 percent year-on-year in January, the same rate of growth as seen in December. The 6.7 percent increase was the weakest growth since last April, when prices gained 6.4 percent.

Looking ahead, U.S. pending home sales for January and Reuters/University of Michigan's final consumer sentiment index for February are due shortly.