The US Dollar Exchange Rate was trading in the region of 0.7475 against the Euro as of 14:55 pm GMT
Global economic developments allowed the US Dollar to gain on several of its most traded peers today.
The ‘Greenback’ continued trading in the region of a seven-month high against its Canadian counterpart as the price of crude oil (a key Canadian export) experienced fluctuations while concerns regarding the rate of Canadian growth continued. The ‘Loonie’ shed 0.4 per cent against the US Dollar shortly after American markets opened.
Meanwhile, the release of the minutes from the latest Bank of England policy meeting caused Sterling to decline by 0.8 per cent against the US Dollar, dropping to its lowest level against the American currency since June of 2012.
The US Dollar also gained on its New Zealand counterpart after the ‘Kiwi’ currency broadly softened following comments made by the Reserve Bank of New Zealand. The South Pacific central bank asserted that it was prepared to take action in order to prevent the ‘Kiwi’ from strengthening further, which caused the New Zealand Dollar to slump by 1.1 per cent against the ‘Greenback’, taking it to its lowest level so far this year.
Finally, news that the Japanese trade deficit expanded to a record 1.63 trillion Yen triggered widespread losses in the safe-haven currency. Although the Yen initially lost ground against the US Dollar a later upward correction allowed it to trade modestly higher against its American rival.
Economic news:
Back in January Richard Dugas, chief executive officer with Bloomfield Hills, asserted: ‘The combination of incredibly low mortgage rates, continued increases in rental rates and especially rising home prices, and very low – and likely to stay low – inventory levels for housing lead us to believe that 2013 will be a better year for U.S. housing than 2012’. And it seems he could well be right.
The most recent data released by the Commerce Department has shown that while total US housing starts fell to a rate of 890,000 in January, housing starts for single-family homes rose to the highest level for over four years, indicating that 2013 will continue to see advancement in this sector.
Meanwhile, permits reached an annual rate of 925,000 – 5,000 higher than forecast by economists but 48,000 lower than December’s upwardly revised figure.
Industry experts have cited the drop in total housing starts as reflecting ‘a correction from the strength we saw earlier’.
After the report was published a senior economist with PNC Financial Services Group Inc commented: ‘The fact that single-family home starts are up is very encouraging, it is more important to the economy in terms of employment and growth [than starts for multi-family dwellings]. The housing market recovery is continuing and will be an important contributor to economic growth. Permits look very solid, and that is a great sign.’
Current US Dollar Exchange Rates
The US Dollar to Euro (USD/EUR) exchange rate is trading at 0.7475
The US Dollar to Pound Sterling (USD/GBP) exchange rate is trading at 0.6535
The US Dollar to Canadian Dollar (USD/CAD) exchange rate is trading at 1.0151
The US Dollar to Australian Dollar (USD/AUD) exchange rate is trading at 0.9696
The US Dollar to New Zealand Dollar (USD/NZD) exchange rate is trading at 1.1932
The US Dollar to Emirati Dirham (USD/AED) exchange rate is trading at 3.6728
The US Dollar to Swiss Franc (USD/CHF) is currently trading at 0.9233
The US Dollar to Japanese Yen (USD/JPY) exchange rate is trading at 93.5700
These exchange rates were correct as of 14:55 pm GMT
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