The greenback received another boost from a slew of fresh economic data out of the United States on Wednesday. The dollar advanced to fresh multi-month highs in response to stronger-than-expected updates.
According to a second official estimate, the US economy grew by 2.1% in the third quarter, marking an 0.15 upward revision from the first estimate released last month. The weekly jobless claims report revealed better-than-expected results, suggesting the country’s jobs market is tightening faster than the Federal reserve anticipated.
Wholesale inventories data was also strong, while the goods trade deficit narrowed in October to the best level since December 2020.
On the negative side, durable goods orders unexpectedly contracted by 0.5% versus +0.2% expected. Still, capital goods orders non-defense ex-air came in at +0.6% versus +0.5% expected.
In general, the data painted a bright picture of the US economy, which implies that rate hike bets would rise further as inflation will likely stay hot in the coming months. Against this backdrop, the dollar will likely stay on the offensive both in the short- and the medium-term.
As the economic landscape keeps improving at a solid pace, the Fed may have to debate a faster withdrawal of its bond-buying program to fight the surging consumer prices. Should the upcoming economic reports ensure strong economic growth, a faster taper idea will be on the table at the Fed’s next meeting in December.
In this scenario, the dollar would extend the ascent versus most rivals driven by a monetary policy divergence theme.