Dollar Losing Ground As Weekend Approaches
November 16 2018 - 9:01AM
RTTF2
The dollar is down against its major rivals Friday afternoon.
Traders continue to keep a close eye on Brexit developments, as
well as the battle between the European Commission and Italy over
the country's budget. Trade negotiations between the U.S. and China
were also in focus at the end of the trading week.
On a light day for economic data, U.S. industrial production
came in weaker than expected this morning, while Eurozone inflation
accelerated.
Industrial production in the U.S. increased marginally in
October, falling short of expectations, according to a report
released by the Federal Reserve on Friday. The report said
industrial output inched up by 0.1 percent in October after rising
by a downwardly revised 0.2 percent in September.
Economists had expected industrial production to rise by 0.2
percent compared to the 0.3 percent increase originally reported
for the previous month.
Eurozone's growth would continue at a gradual pace, but there
was a chance that core inflation may be slow in picking up in
future, if uncertainty regarding the economic situation persisted,
European Central Bank President Mario Draghi warned on Friday.
"There is certainly no reason why the expansion in the euro area
should abruptly come to an end," Draghi said in a speech at the
Frankfurt European Banking Congress.
"That said, if firms start to become more uncertain about the
growth and inflation outlook, the squeeze on margins could prove
more persistent," he said.
"This would affect the speed with which underlying inflation
picks up and therefore the inflation path that we expect to see in
the quarters ahead." The dollar reached an early high of $1.1321
against the Euro Friday, but has since retreated to around
$1.1415.
Eurozone inflation accelerated in October at the fastest pace in
almost six years, as estimated initially, final figures from
Eurostat showed on Friday. The consumer price index rose 2.2
percent year-on-year after a 2.1 percent increase in September.
Inflation was the highest since December 2012.
Germany's wholesale prices climbed at a faster pace in October,
data from Destatis revealed Friday. Wholesale price inflation
improved to 4 percent from 3.5 percent in the previous month.
The buck dropped to a low of $1.2877 against the pound sterling
Friday, but has since bounced back to around $1.2830.
The greenback has fallen to a 2-week low of Y112.765 against the
Japanese Yen Friday afternoon, from an early high of Y113.613.
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