The US Dollar has fallen against all of its most traded peers as volatility hit the market after Wednesday’s speech by Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke and the release of weaker than expected data out of China.
The US currency declined despite data showing that jobless claims in the country fell by 23,000 to 340,000 in the week ending on May 18th. Economists had expected a decline to 345,000.
Yesterday’s comments by the Federal Reserve Chairman created volatility in the exchange rate markets after Bernanke’s speech raised fears that the US Central Bank could soon begin to reduce its bond buying purchases.
“The last 24 hours have all been about Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke and discussion of quantitative-easing tapering, causing whipsawed reactions in U.S. Treasurys and the Dollar index, while the aggressive market moves in Japan perhaps remind us that markets are far from unidirectional,” said Jeremy Stretch, currency strategist at CIBC in London. Against the Japanese Yen the Dollar fell by almost 200 points, its sharpest single decline in three years as the markets reacted to Bernanke’s speech.
Contributing the instability in the market was the data released by China that showed that its manufacturing sector contracted for the first time in seven months in May. The HSBC Purchasing Managers Index showed that output fell to 49.6, below economist expectations of a figure of 50.4.
Against the Pound the Dollar has slid by 0.3% after UK GDP rose by 0.3% in the first quarter of 2013.
The ‘Greenback’ looks set to make further declines before Thursday’s session ends.
Current US Dollar (USD) Exchange Rates
The US Dollar/Pound Sterling Exchange Rate is currently in the region of: 0.6643
The US Dollar/Euro Exchange Rate is currently in the region of: 0.7771
The US Dollar/Australian Dollar Exchange Rate is currently in the region of: 1.0241
The US Dollar/Japanese Yen Exchange Rate is currently in the region of: 1.0383
The US Dollar/Canadian Dollar Exchange Rate is currently in the region of: 1.0373
(Correct as of 14:30pm GMT)
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