The US Dollar firmed only slightly against the Pound despite the publication of data that painted a mixed picture for the world’s largest economy.
According to the Washington based US Department of Labour, the number of US citizens claiming unemployment benefits jumped to the highest level in more than two months casting some doubt on the strength of the US labour market. The report said that the number of claimants climbed by 68,000 to 368,000. Economists had been expecting a figure of 320,000.
In contrast a separate report compiled by the Commerce Department showed that retail sales in the USA climbed by 0.7% on a monthly basis in November, the highest level recorded since June. On a yearly basis sales climbed by 4.7%.
The mixed data did little to dampen expectations that the Federal Reserve will announce a tapering of its $85 billion per month quantitative easing programme at next week’s policy meeting. As a result the Canadian Dollar erased some of its gains against its US relation.
The ‘Loonie’ had been riding higher in the session as optimism over global economic growth bolstered commodity prices including that of crude oil, Canada’s biggest export.
The Pound pushed higher against the Euro and Australian Dollar after the British Chambers of Commerce said that the UK economy will expand at its fastest pace in seven years in 2014. The Australian Dollar weakened across the board after Reserve Bank Governor Glenn Stevens said Thursday Australia needed an exchange rate close to 0.8500.
US Dollar (USD) Current Exchange Rates
The US Dollar/Pound Sterling Exchange Rate is currently in the region of: 0.6112
The US Dollar/Euro Exchange Rate is currently in the region of: 0.7265
The US Dollar/ Canadian Dollar Exchange Rate is currently in the region of: 1.0623
The Pound Sterling/US Dollar Exchange Rate is currently in the region of: 1.6359
The Euro/ US Dollar Exchange Rate is currently in the region of: 1.3757
(Correct as of 14:30 pm GMT)
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