Dollar falls against major currencies on US statistics

14.10.2015

On Wednesday, the dollar fell against major currencies after the report on US retail sales and data on producer price inflation, which outlined a mixed picture of the US economy.

The dollar has continued to fall against the euro, EUR/USD pair rising 0.49% to 1.1437.

On Wednesday, the US Commerce Department reported that retail sales rose 0.1% last month, lower than expected growth of 0.2%. The index of retail sales excluding cars fell in September by 0.3%, significantly more than the anticipated decrease of 0.1%.

The data also showed that in September, the producer price index in the US fell for the first time in five months.

Producer prices in the US fell 0.5% last month, more than the expected decline of 0.2%, while the producer price index excluding prices for food and energy fell 0.3%, confounding forecasts growth by 0.1%.

In the Eurozone on Thursday, data showed that industrial production fell in August by 0.5% after a 0.8% increase in July.

The dollar also fell against the yen, USD/JPY pair losing 0.35% to 119.30.

The yen was supported after data on Wednesday showed that the annual rate of inflation in China slowed to 1.6% in September from 2.0% in August, confounding forecasts on a decline to 1.8%.

The producer price index also declined, reinforcing fears of a deflationary pressure in the second largest economy in the world. The report came a day after data showed that the volume of Chinese imports fell by 20% last month.

The dollar fell against the pound and the Swiss franc; GBP/USD pair jumped by 1.11% to 1.5417 and USD/CHF pair fell 0.56% to 0.9524.

Earlier, the UK Office for National Statistics reported that the unemployment rate fell to a seven-year low of 5.4% in three months to August, from 5.5% in the previous three-month period. It was the lowest since the second quarter of 2008.

The number of people claiming unemployment benefits rose by 4600, getting to a total of 796000.

The level of average earnings excluding bonuses grew at an annualized rate of 2.8% in three months to August, while the level of average salary including bonuses rose 3.0%.

The Australian and New Zealand dollars showed an increase; AUD/USD rose 0.47% to 0.7278 and the NZD/USD pair rose 1.79% to 0.6761.

Meanwhile, the USD/CAD pair fell 0.50% to 1.2972.

The USD, which shows the relationship of the US dollar against a basket of major currencies, went down 0.55% to 94.28, the lowest level since September 18.

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