The US Dollar has strengthened broadly against the majority of its most traded peers as investors widely ignored the plethora of mixed data released on Tuesday and instead looked ahead to the start of the Federal Reserve’s two-day long policy meeting which is expected to result in the Central Bank refraining from tapering its monetary easing programme.
The session saw the release of the latest US Consumer confidence, retails sales and Producer Price Index data.
According to the Commerce Department, retail sales increased by 0.5% as US consumers snapped up the latest iPhone and bought leisure goods. A decline in car sales however indicated that the world’s largest economy could be slowing. The rise beat economist forecasts of an increase of 0.4%.
“This report points to continued resiliency in U.S. consumer spending activity,” said Millan Mulraine, an economist at TD Securities in New York. “However, given the drag on confidence from the government shutdown and protracted debt ceiling fight earlier this month, this resiliency is expected to be tested.”
Consumer confidence meanwhile took a tumble in the wake of the recent debacles involving the nation’s budget and debt ceiling. The 16-day long government shutdown dented consumer confidence and damaged the USA’s reputation as a reliable economic centre.
The Conference Board’s confidence index fell more than expected, declining from 80.2 to 71.2 in October. Economists had been expecting a decline to 75.
Despite the mixed data investors largely ignored it; instead they focused on the Federal Reserve’s policy meeting. Expectations are high that the Fed will delay tapering and due to the action being widely anticipated the Dollar rose as traders dabbled in a bout of profiteering and manoeuvring ahead of the outcome of the meeting.
The Canadian Dollar also rose against the Pound after it received a boost from the expectations that the Fed will delay tapering its quantitative easing programme. The ‘Loonie’ also found support ahead of Bank of Canada Governor Stephen Poloz and Senior Deputy Governor Tiff Macklem testifying to a House of Commons committee in Ottawa.
US Dollar (USD) Current Exchange Rates
The US Dollar/Pound Sterling Exchange Rate is currently in the region of: 0.6215
The US Dollar/Euro Exchange Rate is currently in the region of: 0.7264
The US Dollar/ Canadian Dollar Exchange Rate is currently in the region of: 1.0443
The Pound Sterling/US Dollar Exchange Rate is currently in the region of: 1.6088
The Euro/ US Dollar Exchange Rate is currently in the region of: 1.3765
Current Canadian Dollar (CAD) Exchange Rates:
The Canadian Dollar/US Dollar Exchange Rate is currently in the region of: 0.9575
The Canadian Dollar /Euro Exchange Rate is currently in the region of: 0.6956
The Canadian Dollar/Pound Sterling Exchange Rate is currently in the region of: 0.5952
The Pound Sterling/Canadian Dollar Exchange Rate is currently in the region of: 1.6801
The US Dollar/ Canadian Dollar Exchange Rate is currently in the region of: 1.0443
The Euro/Canadian Dollar Exchange Rate is currently in the region of: 1.4375
(Correct as of 14:35 pm GMT)
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