The US dollar fell against some of its major peers due to the slew of poor economic reports released from the United States during the current trading session. Yet the greenback also gained on many other currencies as risk aversion drove them even lower than the dollar.
There were quite a few economic indicators released today but basically only the Michigan Institute Sentiment Index could be considered positive as it rose unexpectedly, at least according to the preliminary estimate. Other indicators, like retails sales, the Producer Price Index and the Empire Sate Manufacturing Index showed signs of deterioration.
The poor data made market participants question the future monetary policy of the Federal Reserve. While the US central bank promises another interest rate hike this year after it has lifted rates in December for the first time in nearly a decade. Yet analysts question if the Fed would be able to fulfill its promises, and some of them even believe that the central bank may reverse the lift-off, cutting rates.
EUR/USD gained from 1.0865 to 1.0950 while USD/CHF dropped from 1.0044 to 0.9986 as of 18:56 GMT today. At the same time, GBP/USD tumbled 1.4412 to 1.4263 and AUD/USD sank from 0.6983 to 0.6855.
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