The US Dollar made gains against the Pound and firmed against the majority of its most traded peers after data showed that the number of US citizens claiming job seeking benefits fell and manufacturing activity in the Chicago region rose at its fastest rate in 30 years.
According to the Washington based Labour Department the number of people making claims for unemployment benefit fell to 340,000 in the week ending October 26th. The figure was better-than-expected as economists had predicted a fall to 338,000. The report created optimism among some investors as the computer glitches in California that had knocked the data were finally being ironed out.
“We suspect that further improvement is likely as claims averaged roughly 330,000 before data collection issues began impacting the figures,” said Gennadiy Goldberg, U.S. strategist at TD Securities.
“This should continue to suggest that the underlying tone on the firing side of the labor market equation remains better, even as companies may be delaying new hires amid the ongoing uncertainty over the federal budget.”
The positive data increased speculation that the Federal Reserve could choose to taper its monetary easing programme earlier than expected as the economy shows signs of improvement. Investors are looking for any clues as to when tapering will occur after the Fed left its $85 billion per month easing programme unchanged following its monthly policy meeting.
The big surprise for the US economy came after the release of the latest Chicago manufacturing Purchasing Managers Index. The data showed that output jumped from 55.7 in September to 65.9 in October smashing forecasts for a decline to 55.
Against the Euro the ‘Greenback’ strengthened by its highest level in nine weeks as poor inflation data out of Germany and unemployment data out of Italy and the wider Eurozone caused investors to favour the safe haven US Dollar.
US Dollar (USD) Current Exchange Rates
The US Dollar/Pound Sterling Exchange Rate is currently in the region of: 0.6240
The US Dollar/Euro Exchange Rate is currently in the region of: 0.7297
The US Dollar/ Canadian Dollar Exchange Rate is currently in the region of: 1.0459
The US Dollar/ Australian Dollar Exchange Rate is currently in the region of: 1.0515
The US Dollar/ New Zealand Dollar Exchange Rate is currently in the region of: 1.2081
The US Dollar/Japanese Yen Exchange Rate is currently in the region of: 98.2524
The US Dollar/ South African Rand Exchange Rate is currently in the region of: 9.9338
The Pound Sterling/US Dollar Exchange Rate is currently in the region of: 1.6024
The Euro/ US Dollar Exchange Rate is currently in the region of: 1.3703
(Correct as of 15:00 pm GMT)
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