Yesterday’s US jobless claims data, which unexpectedly saw claims coming in at a five-year low, has had a powerful impact on the market. With investors broadly buying the US Dollar the American currency has been able to post significant gains against several of its peers.
The US Dollar Exchange Rate was trading in the region of 1.5401 against the British Pound as of 14:45 GMT
The Australian Dollar fell to a 10-month low against its US counterpart while the Yen weakened to ¥101.00 (a four-year low).
Although the Pound and Euro’s declines against the US Dollar haven’t been as significant, both European currencies hit two-week lows.
But the Pound, which slipped below $1.54, was able to pare losses following the publication of UK trade balance data as it showed that the nation’s deficit narrowed in line with expectations.
The Euro, meanwhile, fell below $1.3000 as a lack of significant economic news for the Eurozone meant there was little to offset the US Dollar’s gains.
Commodity-driven currencies like the Rand also took a hit as the ‘Greenback’s rally led to a sharp decline in gold futures. Gold’s weekly gain was turned into a weekly drop of 2.5 per cent as June gold futures plummeted by roughly 2.7 per cent an ounce.
The US Dollar was able to strengthen to R9.0698 and advanced to 1.0117 against the Canadian Dollar as Canadian employment figures fell shy of forecasts.
In response to the drop one industry expert commented: ‘Despite good physical offtake, gold has been looking weak technically and the selloff on the New York opening looks to have been triggered by renewed Dollar strength, especially with the Dollar going through the psychologically important 100-Yen level.’
Current US Dollar (USD) Exchange Rates
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The US Dollar/Pound Sterling Exchange Rate is currently in the region of: 0.6493 >
The US Dollar/Euro Exchange Rate is currently in the region of: 0.7690 >
The US Dollar/Australian Dollar Exchange Rate is currently in the region of: 0.9984 <
The US Dollar/Japanese Yen Exchange Rate is currently in the region of: 101.5300 >
The US Dollar/Canadian Dollar Exchange Rate is currently in the region of: 1.0117 >
(Correct as of 14:45 GMT)
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