US Dollar Continues To Recover From Recent Losses
New York (Apr 13) The dollar is rising against all of its major rivals Wednesday afternoon, as it continues to bounce back from its recent losing skid. The recovery continues today despite the release of some disappointing economic data this morning. However, the dollar's momentum appears to have stalled out this afternoon, despite the release of the Beige Book.
Wages are rising across the US, according to the latest Beige Book report from the Federal Reserve .
Anecdotal surveys from the twelve Federal Reserve Districts suggest that national economic activity continued to expand in late February and March, though the pace of growth varied from region to region.
Most encouraging, labor market conditions continued to strengthen and business spending generally expanded.
Primarily reflecting a steep drop in auto sales, the Commerce Department released a report on Wednesday showing an unexpected decrease in US retail sales in the month of March. The Commerce Department said retail sales fell by 0.3% in March following a revised unchanged reading in February.
Economists had expected sales to inch up by 0.1% compared to the 0.1% drop originally reported for the previous month.
Producer prices in the US unexpectedly saw a modest decrease in the month of March, according to a report released by the Labor Department on Wednesday. The report said producer prices edged down by 0.1% in March after slipping by 0.2% in February. The drop surprised economists, who had expected prices to climb by 0.3%.
Business inventories in the US saw a modest decrease in the month of February, the Commerce Department revealed in a report on Wednesday. The Commerce Department said business inventories edged down by 0.1% in February, matching a revised drop in January. The slight decline also matched economist estimates.
The dollar has broken out to a 2-week high of USD1.1280 against the Euro Wednesday afternoon, from Tuesday's 5-month low of USD1.1464 .
Eurozone industrial production declined more than expected in February on widespread weakness across sub-sectors, data from Eurostat revealed Wednesday. Industrial production fell 0.8% in February from January, when it grew by revised 1.9%. Economists had forecast a 0.7% drop. Output for January was revised down from 2.1%.
France's consumer prices decreased less than initially estimated in March, final figures from the statistical office Insee showed Thursday. The consumer price index edged down 0.1% year-over-year in March, marking its second successive monthly drop, which was revised down from the 0.2% drop reported earlier.
The buck has climbed to around USD1.4210 against the pound sterling Wednesday, from yesterday's low of USD1.4346 .
Demand for secured lending for house purchases and the availability of secured credit to households are set to increase in the second quarter, the latest Credit Conditions Survey from the Bank of England showed Wednesday.
Lenders said the availability of secured credit to households remained unchanged in three months to mid-March. They expect availability to increase in the second quarter.
Meanwhile, the availability of unsecured credit to households increased slightly and it is forecast to improve further.
The greenback has risen to around Y109.320 against the Japanese Yen Wednesday, from a 17-month low of Y107.624 on Monday.
Producer prices in Japan were down 0.1% on month in March, the Bank of Japan said on Wednesday. That missed forecasts for a flat reading following the downwardly revised 0.3% contraction in February.
The M2 money stock in Japan climbed 3.2% on year in March, the Bank of Japan said on Wednesday, standing at 923.1 trillion yen . That topped forecasts for an increase of 3.1% following the upwardly revised 3.2% gain in February.
Source: AllianceNews
