Dollar Weakening As Investors Await Fed Announcement
September 19 2017 - 10:56AM
RTTF2
The dollar is losing ground against all of its major rivals
Tuesday afternoon. The Federal Reserve began its 2-day policy
meeting and will announce its decision Wednesday afternoon.
The Fed is widely expected to leave interest rates unchanged
when it concludes its policy meeting after the European close
tomorrow. However, traders will be looking for clues about the
outlook for monetary policy.
New residential construction in the U.S. unexpectedly decreased
in the month of August, according to a report released by the
Commerce Department on Tuesday. The report said housing starts fell
by 0.8 percent to an annual rate of 1.180 million in August from a
revised 1.190 million in July. Economists had expected housing
starts to jump by 1.7 percent.
The report also said building permits, an indicating of future
housing demand, spiked by 5.7 percent to a rate of 1.300 million in
August from a rate of 1.230 million in July.
A report released by the Labor Department on Tuesday showed
increases in U.S. import and export prices in the month of
August.
The Labor Department said imports prices climbed by 0.6 percent
in August after edging down by 0.1 percent in July. Economists had
expected import prices to rise by 0.4 percent.
The report said export prices also rose by 0.6 percent in August
following a 0.5 percent increase in the previous month. Export
prices had been expected to edge up by 0.2 percent.
The dollar rose to an early high of $1.1951 against the Euro
Tuesday, but has since pulled back to around $1.20.
The euro area current account surplus increased in July on
higher primary income, the European Central Bank reported Tuesday.
The current account surplus increased to a seasonally adjusted EUR
25.1 billion in July from EUR 22.8 billion in June.
Eurozone construction output increased for the second straight
month in July, and at a stable pace, data from Eurostat showed
Tuesday. Construction output climbed 0.2 percent month-over-month
in July, the same rate of rise as in June, which was revised from a
0.5 percent decrease reported earlier.
Germany's economic confidence strengthened notably in September,
survey data from the Mannheim-based Centre for European Economic
Research/ZEW showed Tuesday. The ZEW Indicator of Economic
Sentiment rose by 7 points to 17.0 in September. The score was
forecast to rise to 13.
The French government downgraded the budget deficit projections
for this year and next, the Finance Ministry said Tuesday. The
government currently forecast a deficit of 2.9 percent of gross
domestic product for 2017 and 2.6 percent for 2018.
The buck reached an early high of $1.3467 against the pound
sterling Tuesday, but has since retreated to around $1.3525.
The greenback climbed to over a month and a half high of
Y111.879 against the Japanese Yen Tuesday morning, but has since
slipped to around Y111.465.
US Dollar vs CAD (FX:USDCAD)
Forex Chart
From Aug 2024 to Sep 2024
US Dollar vs CAD (FX:USDCAD)
Forex Chart
From Sep 2023 to Sep 2024