The ‘Greenback’ rose toward a seven-month high ahead of tomorrow’s release of the USA’s latest retail sales data. The data is expected to show a further improvement for the US economy and will add to speculation that the Federal Reserve will begin to scale back its monetary stimulus programme.
The US currency is riding high and looks set to continue to do so, Imre Speizer a strategist at Westpac Banking Corp said; “The US economy has got momentum. Good US news will support the Dollar more so these days.”
Economists are expecting the Commerce Department to show that retail sales saw an increase of 0.5% in February compared to the 0.1% rise recorded in January. If the data comes in better-than-expected then speculation will rise over the possibility of the Federal Reserve cutting back on its quantitative easing programme.
Against the Pound, the US Dollar has strengthened for a fifth consecutive day as the latest data showed that UK manufacturing production stagnated in January. Against the Japanese Yen the US currency hit its strongest level since August 2009 as the positive data out of the States continued to boost demand for the American currency.
The Dollar has climbed 3.2% this year, the best performance after Sweden’s Krona among 10 developed-nations. The Yen is the biggest loser with an 8.3% tumble.
Current US Dollar Exchange Rates
The US Dollar to Euro (USD/EUR) exchange rate is trading at 0.7686
The US Dollar to Pound Sterling (USD/GBP) exchange rate is trading at 0.6706
The US Dollar to Canadian Dollar (USD/CAD) exchange rate is trading at 1.0278
The US Dollar to Australian Dollar (USD/AUD) exchange rate is trading at 0.9714
The US Dollar to New Zealand Dollar (USD/NZD) exchange rate is trading at 1.2133
The US Dollar to Japanese Yen (USD/JPY) exchange rate is trading at 95.8567
These exchange rates were correct as of 09:45 pm GMT
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