Tuesday May 13, 02:12 PM
Forex - Dollar jumps higher on solid U.S retail sales, import prices data
LONDON (Thomson Financial) - The dollar jumped higher after U.S. data revealed a stronger-than-expected rise in retail sales excluding autos and a solid rise in import prices.
Retail sales excluding auto sales rose by 0.5 percent in
April from March's 0.4 percent rise. This beat analysts' forecasts for a 0.3 percent increase and offset news that overall sales had fallen by 0.2 percent.
Elsewhere, import price inflation slowed to 1.8 percent in April, from 2.9 percent in March. However, this is slightly above forecasts for a 1.7 percent increase, and March's figure was revised upwards.
Rhonda Staskow, an analyst at Thomson IFR Markets, said the dollar soared in the wake of the retail sales data, which mirror 'the recent positive retail sales data released last week that showed strong gains in same-store sales and in chain store sales for April'.
'Inflation concerns are also supporting the expectations of a more hawkish Federal Reserve with import prices rising ... more than expected,' said Staskow.
Following the data release, the dollar briefly strengthened to a day high of 1.5430 per euro, from 1.5472 prior to the releases. Against the pound, the dollar rose to a day high of $1.9444 from $1.9497.
|
Send Article by Email
