Investing.com - The dollar rose against most major global currencies on Wednesday after retail sales data in the U.S. shot past expectations in July, depicting an economy determined to return to more robust growth.
In Asian trading on Monday, EUR/USD was up 0.02% at 1.2325.
The U.S. economy showed signs of life last month, at least from the consumer's point of view.
The U.S. Commerce Department reported that retail sales jumped 0.8% in July after a 0.7% drop in June, outpacing market expectations for a 0.3% increase.
It was the first gain in four months.
Core retail sales, which exclude automobiles, rose 0.8% in July, well above market calls for a 0.4% increase and up from a 0.8% decline in June.
A separate report showed that U.S. producer prices rose at their fastest clip in five months in July, climbing 0.3% after a 0.1% increase the previous month.
Markets were expecting a 0.2% increase.
The numbers sparked hopes the Federal Reserve may at least delay widely expected plans to stimulate an otherwise tepid economy with monetary easing tools, which weaken the dollar to stimulate growth.
The euro, meanwhile, flexed its muscles against the dollar when Germany reported that its gross domestic product expanded by 0.3% in the second quarter, better than expectations for 0.2% growth.
France, meanwhile, reported that its economy came in flat, beating expectations for a 0.1% contraction.
However, the eurozone economy as a whole contracted by 0.2% in the second quarter, in line with expectations and bringing the annualized rate of contraction to 0.4%, giving the dollar the upper hand early Wednesday.
Profit-taking sent the dollar falling at times.
The pound, meanwhile, dipped against the greenback, erasing earlier gains on official data revealing that the U.K. consumer price index rose unexpectedly in July, which doused expectations for Bank of England stimulus measures.
The Office for National Statistics reported that the U.K. inflation rate accelerated to a seasonally adjusted 2.6% in July from 2.4% the previous month. Analysts had expected CPI to dip to 2.3%.
The greenback, meanwhile, was up against the pound, with GBP/USD trading down 0.05% at 1.5669.
Recently released minutes of the Bank of Japan’s latest monetary policy meeting showed that board members weren’t ruling out any options to jolt the economy, including rolling out monetary easing measures, which bolstered the greenback against the yen.
The dollar was up against the yen, with USD/JPY trading up 0.10% at 78.81, and down against the Swiss franc, with USD/CHF trading down 0.01% at 0.9746.
The dollar was up against its cousins in Canada, Australia and New Zealand, with USD/CAD up 0.02% at 0.9925, AUD/USD down 0.18% at 1.0472 and NZD/USD down 0.14% at 0.8043.
The dollar index, which tracks the performance of the greenback versus a basket of six other major currencies, was up 0.02% at 82.58.
Later Wednesday, the U.S. will release its latest consumer price index, as well as a report on manufacturing activity in the New York area and government data on net long term securities transactions. The Federal Reserve is also to produce data on the capacity utilization rate and industrial production, followed by a government report on crude oil inventories.
In Asian trading on Monday, EUR/USD was up 0.02% at 1.2325.
The U.S. economy showed signs of life last month, at least from the consumer's point of view.
The U.S. Commerce Department reported that retail sales jumped 0.8% in July after a 0.7% drop in June, outpacing market expectations for a 0.3% increase.
It was the first gain in four months.
Core retail sales, which exclude automobiles, rose 0.8% in July, well above market calls for a 0.4% increase and up from a 0.8% decline in June.
A separate report showed that U.S. producer prices rose at their fastest clip in five months in July, climbing 0.3% after a 0.1% increase the previous month.
Markets were expecting a 0.2% increase.
The numbers sparked hopes the Federal Reserve may at least delay widely expected plans to stimulate an otherwise tepid economy with monetary easing tools, which weaken the dollar to stimulate growth.
The euro, meanwhile, flexed its muscles against the dollar when Germany reported that its gross domestic product expanded by 0.3% in the second quarter, better than expectations for 0.2% growth.
France, meanwhile, reported that its economy came in flat, beating expectations for a 0.1% contraction.
However, the eurozone economy as a whole contracted by 0.2% in the second quarter, in line with expectations and bringing the annualized rate of contraction to 0.4%, giving the dollar the upper hand early Wednesday.
Profit-taking sent the dollar falling at times.
The pound, meanwhile, dipped against the greenback, erasing earlier gains on official data revealing that the U.K. consumer price index rose unexpectedly in July, which doused expectations for Bank of England stimulus measures.
The Office for National Statistics reported that the U.K. inflation rate accelerated to a seasonally adjusted 2.6% in July from 2.4% the previous month. Analysts had expected CPI to dip to 2.3%.
The greenback, meanwhile, was up against the pound, with GBP/USD trading down 0.05% at 1.5669.
Recently released minutes of the Bank of Japan’s latest monetary policy meeting showed that board members weren’t ruling out any options to jolt the economy, including rolling out monetary easing measures, which bolstered the greenback against the yen.
The dollar was up against the yen, with USD/JPY trading up 0.10% at 78.81, and down against the Swiss franc, with USD/CHF trading down 0.01% at 0.9746.
The dollar was up against its cousins in Canada, Australia and New Zealand, with USD/CAD up 0.02% at 0.9925, AUD/USD down 0.18% at 1.0472 and NZD/USD down 0.14% at 0.8043.
The dollar index, which tracks the performance of the greenback versus a basket of six other major currencies, was up 0.02% at 82.58.
Later Wednesday, the U.S. will release its latest consumer price index, as well as a report on manufacturing activity in the New York area and government data on net long term securities transactions. The Federal Reserve is also to produce data on the capacity utilization rate and industrial production, followed by a government report on crude oil inventories.