The US Dollar fell against the Pound and Euro but remained higher against the commodity and emerging market currencies following the release of positive US personal income and consumer spending data.
The reason for the Dollar’s rise against the commodity based currencies is due to the ongoing concerns over the US budget and uncertainty as to when the US Federal Reserve will choose to taper its monetary easing programme.
U.S. budget concerns also persisted after Republican leaders in the U.S. House of Representatives refused on Thursday to give in to President Barack Obama’s demand for straightforward bills to run the government beyond September 30 and to increase borrowing authority to avoid a default.
Consumer spending in the US rose for a fourth consecutive month and personal income rose by 0.4% in August. The pickup in spending is of particularly good news as it accounts for up to 70% of the national economy. Household purchases edged higher by 0.3%.
“We saw decent growth in personal income and stronger wage gains, still the figures signal that it’s going to be just, at best an ok holiday season for retailers,” said Gus Faucher, senior economist at PNC Financial Group Inc.
The Pound strengthened against the Dollar after Bank of England Governor Mark Carney told a UK newspaper that he sees no need for more bond buying seeing as how the UK economy is making a strong recovery.
The ‘Greenback’ is expected to remain mixed until the uncertainty regarding the Fed tapering and fiscal cliff is resolved.
US Dollar (USD) Current Exchange Rates
The US Dollar/Pound Sterling Exchange Rate is currently in the region of: 0.6219 <
The US Dollar/Euro Exchange Rate is currently in the region of: 0.7403 <
The US Dollar/Japanese Yen Exchange Rate is currently in the region of: 98.6702
The Pound Sterling/US Dollar Exchange Rate is currently in the region of: 1.6079 >
The Euro/ US Dollar Exchange Rate is currently in the region of: 1.3508
(Correct as of 15:10 pm GMT)
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