The US dollar today rallied higher against its main peers including the British pound and the Japanese yen after the release of positive US advance retail sales data. The greenback’s rally was also supported by the positive New York Empire State Manufacturing Index, which also exceeded expectations.
The US dollar’s rally, as tracked by the US Dollar Index was impressive as the index hit a session high of 94.10, which was last witnessed in July.
The release of the US advance retail sales report by the Census Bureau triggered a major rally as the advance sales came in at $478.9 billion, which translates into 0.6% growth versus the expected 0.3% increase from the June figures. The NY Empire State Manufacturing Index released by the New York Fed also contributed to the rally as it was recorded at 25.2 as compared to the expected 10.0. The retail sales excluding the autos sector also exceeded expectations as it came in at 0.5% on a monthly basis as opposed to the expected 0.3%.
The US NAHB housing market index also contributed to the greenback’s rally by coming in at 68, which was higher than the market consensus of 64. The US business inventories also exceeded expectations as they were recorded at 0.5%, which was higher than the market consensus of a 0.4% increase.
The greenback’s future performance is likely to be influenced by the release of the FOMC minutes of their July meeting as well as the building permits, and housing starts report, all scheduled for tomorrow.
The GBP/USD was trading at 1.2860 as at 15:37 GMT having dropped from a daily high of 1.2970. The USD/JPY was trading at 110.49 having rallied from a low of 109.90.
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