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The US dollar ended the week relatively strong against most other major currencies thanks to the hawkish minutes of the Federal Reserve. Yet commodity currencies, including the Australian and New Zealand dollars but excluding the Canadian dollar, outperformed the greenback.
The Chinese yuan is rallying against its American counterpart at the end of the trading week, despite the national economy growing at its slowest pace in about a decade. As the US-China trade war intensifies, there are fears that the economy could cool down even more.
The New Zealand dollar, as well as its Australian counterpart, was strong today. The currencies rose against their most-traded rivals even as economic growth in China, the biggest trading partner of both New Zealand and Australia, was slower than expected. The miss was small, though, and other Chinese macroeconomic indicators were within expectations.
The US dollar was rather strong today, though it was unable to outperform safer currencies like the Japanese yen and the Swiss franc. The greenback was also surprisingly weak against the Australian and New Zealand dollars intraday but managed to rebound by now.
The British pound today traded sideways against the US dollar following the failed Brexit talks during yesterday’s meetings between EU leaders and British PM Theresa May. The pound was further weighed down by the release of the latest UK retail sales data in the early European session, which missed expectations by a significant margin.
The Canadian dollar is tumbling on Thursday, thanks to crude oil prices slipping below the key $70 threshold and weak manufacturing data. The loonie had surged to a 11-day high on Wednesday before retreating against several other currencies.
The Australian dollar was among the strongest currencies today. That puzzled market analysts as Australia’s macroeconomic reports were not particularly favorable and the market sentiment was negative to riskier commodity-related currencies due to geopolitical tensions and prospects for additional monetary tightening from the Federal Reserve.
The Japanese yen is trading flat midweek after several mixed news reports came out pertaining to the world’s third-largest economy. While a new poll shows economists fear upcoming trade spats with the US will impact the Japanese economy, a new study discovered that Tokyo remains one of the most competitive places in the world today.
The euro today has traded erratically against the US dollar from the start of today’s session as both sellers and buyers pushed to gain control of the single currency. The EUR/USD currency pair traded both higher and lower as it struggled to find direction despite the release of positive eurozone inflation data, but was heading lower at the time of writing.
The British pound today fell significantly against the dollar following the release of the latest UK inflation data, which missed expectations. The pound was also weighed down by the ongoing European Union Brexit summit, which is not expected to result in a deal.
