CURRENCIES: Dollar Steady Near 2-week High In Quiet Good Friday Trading
April 19 2019 - 9:30AM
Dow Jones News
By Aaron Hankin
The U.S. dollar is holding near a two-week high on Friday, on
what should be a quiet session for currencies with most other major
U.S. and global exchanges closed for the observance of Good
Friday.
The ICE Dollar Index, a measure of the greenback's strength
against major trading rivals was last at 97.352, down 0.1% since
late Thursday. The index hit an intraday high at 97.43, its highest
level since April 5, according to data from FactSet.
"The recent stream of better-than-expected data, including the
surprise narrowing of the U.S. trade deficit in February, have
prompted upward revisions to U.S. Q1 GDP forecasts, due a week from
today. Further signs that the world's largest economy is
experiencing a cushioned slowdown, could help boost the greenback,
as economic conditions in other major developed countries remain
fragile," wrote Lukman Otunuga, research analyst at FXTM.
Read:Which markets are closed on Good Friday
(http://www.marketwatch.com/story/which-markets-are-closed-on-good-friday-2019-04-15)
The British pound was oscillating either side of $1.30, last
changing hands at $1.2997 compared to $1.2978 late on Thursday.
"GBP/USD continues to trade around $1.30 without much direction
and shifts in domestic politics this week have been net neutral.
Labour have moved clearly ahead as the likely winner of the next
election (with the bookies and in the polls), but the likelihood of
an election has itself fallen (32% probability in 2019)," wrote
Adam Cole, currency strategist at RBC Capital Markets.
Elsewhere, the euro was marginally higher versus the dollar at
$1.1244 and the Japanese yen was unchanged at Yen111.91.
Read:Dow, S&P 500 and Nasdaq near records but stock-market
volumes are the lowest in months -- Here's why
(http://www.marketwatch.com/story/why-stock-market-volumes-are-the-lowest-in-months-as-the-dow-sp-500-and-nasdaq-test-records-2019-04-17)
In economic news, housing starts for the month of March fell to
0.3% 1.139 million, while building permits fell 1.7% to 1.269
million.
Read:Why the health-care stock selloff may actually be a good
thing
(http://www.marketwatch.com/story/this-is-how-bad-the-health-care-stock-selloff-looks-on-chartsis-that-a-good-thing-2019-04-18)
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
April 19, 2019 09:15 ET (13:15 GMT)
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