FRX: Dollar broadly lower as U.S. data feeds risk appetite
Forex Pros – The U.S. dollar was broadly lower against its major counterparts on Tuesday, after official data showed that U.S. producer prices posted a large annualized gain last month bolstered demand for higher yielding assets.
During the early U.S. session, the greenback was lower against the euro, with EUR/USD climbing 0.48% to hit 1.4483.
European Central Bank Governing Council member Mario Draghi said earlier that the bank opposed any non-voluntary restructuring of Greek debt.
The greenback was also down against the pound, with GBP/USD rising 0.32% to hit 1.6427.
Earlier Tuesday, official data showed that U.K. consumer price inflation rose in line with expectations in May, dampening expectations for a near-term rate hike by the Bank of England.
The greenback was higher against the yen and the Swiss franc with USD/JPY gaining 0.35% to hit 80.52 and USD/CHF surging 0.61% to hit 0.8421.
The Bank of Japan left its benchmark interest rate unchanged at a record low of 0.1% earlier and announced a new JPY500 billion lending plan, in a move designed to bolster the earthquake-hit economy by channeling funds to industries.
Elsewhere, the greenback was down against its Canadian, Australian and New Zealand counterparts, with USD/CAD tumbling 0.83% to hit 0.9678, AUD/USD advancing 0.67% to hit 1.0671 and NZD/USD gaining 0.28% to hit 0.8176.
Statistics Canada said earlier that Canadian industries operated at 79% of their production capacity in the first quarter, up 2.2% from the previous quarter.
The dollar index, which tracks the performance of the greenback versus a basket of six other major currencies, was down 0.34%.
The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics said earlier that producer prices rose 0.2% in May, taking the annual inflation rate to 7.3%, more than the 6.8% forecasted increase.
Separately, the Commerce Department said U.S. retail sales slipped 0.2% in May, after a downwardly revised 0.3% increase in April. Analysts had expected retail sales to decline by 0.7% last month.
Excluding autos, retail sales last month climbed 0.3%, versus expectations for a 0.1% gain.
