Dollar Climbing Ahead Of Easter Holiday Weekend
14 April 2017 - 12:45AM
RTTF2
The dollar is rising against all of its major rivals Thursday
afternoon. The buck dipped in early trade after some comments from
President Trump, but has staged a recovery heading into the long
holiday weekend.
In an interview with the Wall Street Journal on Wednesday,
President Trump said he thinks the U.S. dollar "is getting too
strong." Trump also told the Journal he likes a low interest rate
policy and noted he has not decided whether to reappoint Federal
Reserve Chair Janet Yellen.
Trump also said that "it's very, very hard to compete when you
have a strong dollar and other countries are devaluing their
currency." The president also mentioned that he will not label
China a currency manipulator.
First-time claims for U.S. unemployment benefits unexpectedly
edged lower in the week ended April 8th, according to a report
released by the Labor Department on Thursday. The report said
initial jobless claims dipped to 234,000, a decrease of 1,000 from
the previous week's revised level of 235,000.
Economists had expected jobless claims to rise to 245,000 from
the 234,000 originally reported for the previous week.
A report released by the Labor Department on Thursday showed a
modest decrease in U.S. producer prices in the month of March. The
Labor Department said its producer price index for final demand
edged down by 0.1 percent in March after rising by 0.3 percent in
February. Economists had expected prices to come in flat.
Consumer sentiment in the U.S. has unexpectedly improved in the
month of April, according to a report released by the University of
Michigan on Thursday. The report said the consumer sentiment index
rose to 98.0 in April from 96.9 in March. Economists had expected
the index to edge down to 96.6.
The dollar dipped to an early low of $1.0677 against the Euro
Thursday, but has since climbed to around $1.0615.
Germany's consumer price inflation was unchanged at a four-month
low in March, final figures from Destatis confirmed Thursday. The
consumer price index rose 1.6 percent year-on-year following 2.2
percent surge in February. The inflation figure was the weakest
since November.
France's consumer price inflation slowed marginally as initially
estimated in March, latest figures from the statistical office
Insee showed Thursday. The consumer price index rose 1.1 percent
year-over-year in March, following a 1.2 percent climb in February.
That was in line with the flash data published on March 31.
The buck dropped to a 2-week low of $1.2573 against the pound
sterling Thursday morning, but has since rebounded to around
$1.2510.
U.K. house prices increased at the slowest pace in four years in
the three months ended March from a year ago, survey data from the
mortgage lender Halifax and IHS Markit showed Thursday. House
prices climbed 3.6 percent year-over-year in the first quarter,
slower than the 6.5 percent spike in the fourth quarter. Moreover,
this was the weakest rise in property prices since the first
quarter of 2013.
The house price balance in the United Kingdom came in at 22
percent in March, the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors said
on Thursday. That was in line with expectations and unchanged from
the February reading.
The greenback slipped to nearly a 5-month low of Y108.731
against the Japanese Yen Thursday morning, but has since bounced
back to around Y109.125.
The M2 money stock in Japan was up 4.3 percent on year in March,
the Bank of Japan said on Thursday, coming in at 962.8 trillion
yen. That topped expectations for a gain of 4.2 percent, which
would have been unchanged from the February reading.
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