The US dollar shows a decline on the eve of US statistics

13.05.2015

On Wednesday, the dollar significantly weakened against the basket of major currencies, as the markets expect now the publication of data on US retail sales after the recent economic reports pointed to the weakness of growth in the first quarter.

The EUR/USD rose 0.11% to 1.1224 after an earlier peak of 1.1265.

The US currency retreated from session highs after official data showed that gross domestic product of the euro zone in the first three months of the year rose 0.4% compared with 0.3% - from the last quarter of 2014 and slightly below forecasts - 0.5%.

In annual terms, GDP of the European Union increased by 1.0% after rising 0.9% in the last quarter of the last year. Economists had forecast an increase of 1.1%.

The French economy in the first quarter grew with the fastest rates in two years - by 0.6%. The German economy, the largest in the euro zone, rose in the first quarter 0.3%, slowing from 0.7% in the previous quarter.

The data also showed that industrial production in the euro zone fell in March by 0.3% against the expected growth of 0.2%. The February figure was revised to an increase of 1.0% instead of 1.1%.

GBP/USD pair is stable at 1.5664 after a five-month high of 1.5743 reached earlier in the session.

The Sterling Pound weakened after the Bank of England lowered its growth forecast for this year to 2.4% from 2.9% - expected three months ago. The central bank also revised its growth forecast for 2016 and 2017 to 2.6% and 2.4%, respectively.

Earlier, the United Kingdom Office for National Statistics reported that the unemployment rate fell last month, as expected, to 5.5% from 5.6% in March, its lowest level since September 2008.

The report also showed that the number of applications for unemployment benefits in the UK fell to 12600 in April. The March figure was revised to a decline of 16700 instead of 20700.

Dollar stays steady against the yen, with USD/JPY being at 119.80, and weakened against the Swiss franc - USD/CHF fell 0.15% to 0.9280.

Australian and New Zeeland dollars noted an increase: the pair AUD/USD has strengthened by 0.60% to 0.8023, and the pair NZD/USD jumped by 1.09% to 0.7442.

Meanwhile, the pair USD/CAD has weakened. It fell 0.35% to 1.1978.

The USD index, which tracks the US currency against the basket of six major rivals, fell 0.16% to 94.56.

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