Saturday, March 17, 2012

Dollar turns down on inflation data

The dollar turned lower against major currencies Friday after a U.S. government report on inflation was seen as giving policy makers more reason to maintain ultra-accommodative monetary measures.
The ICE dollar index DXY -0.60% , which tracks the U.S. unit against a basket of major currencies, turned down to 79.776, off from 80.255 before the data and compared to 80.158 late Thursday.
The move reversed the index’s week-to-date gain, and its now down 0.3% from last Friday. It’s still up 1.3% this month.

The euro EURUSD -0.15%  fetched $1.3174, up from $1.3086 earlier and $1.3097 in late North American trade on Thursday.
Against the Japanese yen, the dollar USDJPY -0.10% turned down to ¥83.36, off its high of ¥83.94 and versus ¥83.40 Thursday.
The greenback has gained 1.5% on the yen from last Friday -- its sixth weekly gain, pushing its year-to-date advance over 10%.
The British pound GBPUSD -0.01%  extended gains to $1.5831, up from $1.5672.
For the week, the euro reversed an earlier decline to be up 0.4% and the pound has gained 1% versus the dollar.
The dollar gave up modest gains against the euro after a report showed that the U.S. consumer price index excluding food and energy rose a less-than-forecast 0.1% for February. Overall, inflation at the retail level rose 0.4% on the month, roughly in line with forecasts. Read more on February CPI.
The lower core level allows the Federal Reserve to maintain its ultra-accommodative monetary policy for longer, so the data are “just what the Fed likes to see,” said Kathy Lien, director of currency research at GFT.

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