Forex - Dollar extends gains on Federal Reserve language

Published 03/14/2012, 09:25 PM
Updated 03/14/2012, 09:29 PM
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Investing.com - The dollar continued to climb against the world's major currencies on Thursday, extending gains posted after the Federal Reserve concluded at a recent meeting that the country was recovering while making no mention for a need to stimulate the economy via easing measures.

In Asian trading on Thursday, the euro was down against the greenback, with EUR/USD losing 0.10% and trading at 1.3019.

In the U.S. on Tuesday, the Federal Reserve gave a reasonably positive view of the U.S. economy and left interest rates unchanged.

Fed officials said in a statement they expected moderate economic growth to continue in the coming quarters, while unemployment rates will continue their gradual decline as well.

The Fed made no mention of a need to roll out a new round of quantitative easing, bond purchases from banks designed to jolt the economy, which sent the dollar rising against most other currencies.

The greenback weakens under quantitative easing, and waning expectations of such measures continued to push up the U.S. currency on Thursday.

Also in the U.S. retail sales recently came in line with expectations, growing a solid 1.1% in February from January, while the Federal Reserve reported later that 15 out of the country's 19 big banks passed their stress tests.

Banks are required to undergo stress tests, as mandated by the Dodd-Frank financial reform law born in wake of the Lehman Brothers collapse.

In Europe, meanwhile, core inflation rates, which are stripped of volatile food and energy costs, came in at 1.5% in February, weaker than expected.

Headline inflation rates in Europe rose 2.7%, which were in line with expectations.

Industrial production in the eurozone rose by 0.2% in January from December, below expectations for a 0.7% gain.

Meanwhile, the dollar was up against the pound, with GBP/USD down 0.20% and trading at 1.5643.

The greenback was up against the yen, with USD/JPY trading up 0.43% at 84.09, and up against the Swiss franc, with USD/CHF up 0.28% and trading at 0.9332.

The greenback was up against its cousins in Canada, Australia and New Zealand, with USD/CAD up 0.22% at 0.9948, AUD/USD down 0.22% at 1.0429 and NZD/USD down 0.36% at 0.8064.

The dollar index, which tracks the performance of the greenback versus a basket of six other major currencies, was up 0.20% at 81.14.

Later Thursday, the U.S. government will release data on producer price inflation, a leading indicator of consumer inflation, as well as official data on unemployment claims.

The country is also to produce reports on manufacturing activity in New York and Philadelphia, as well as a government report on net long-term securities transactions.







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