Investing.com - Forex markets reacted to positive retail sales data today, pushing the dollar up against the yen, the euro and the pound.
The euro/dollar pairing was up 0.29% to 1.0641.
The yen/dollar pairing was down 0.17% to 114.50.
The pound/dollar pair increased 0.21% to 1.2181. The price of gold was also down on the day's strong retail sales data, settling at 1197.80, a decline of 0.17%.
Analysts noted the dollar gained against the yen, but was little changed against the euro on Friday. The greenback is rebounding from five-week lows. Retail sales data fueled expectations that the Federal Reserve Bank would indeed raise interest rates three times this year, as previously announced.
The U.S. Commerce Department today reported that retail sales increased 0.6% in December, while November's retail sales were revised upward to reveal a 0.2% rise instead of the previously reported 0.1% gain.
President-elect Trump takes office a week from today. Only CIA Director Mike Pompeo and Secretary of Defense James Mattis are expected to be confirmed by the Senate before the president takes the oath of office on Friday afternoon.
Secretary of State Rex Tillerson, the CEO of ExxonMobil Corporation (NYSE:XOM), may see his nomination delayed by opposition Democrats.
Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) is said to be considering a "no vote," or not voting at all, in committee, in order to delay Tillerson's confirmation.
Rubio lost the GOP nomination for president to Trump last year, failing even in his home state of Florida.