IV:Dollar advances vs. yen before U.S. retail data
Investing.com - The dollar was more than 1% higher against the yen on Tuesday and remained rangebound against the euro and the pound ahead of U.S. data on retail sales later in the trading day.
During European late morning trade, the dollar rallied against the yen, with USD/JPY advancing 1.05% to 97.91.
The dollar was bolstered by expectations that the U.S. data would reinforce the view that the economic recovery is strong enough for the Federal Reserve to begin phasing out its asset purchase program later this year.
The yen came under pressure following reports that Japan’s Prime Minister Shinzo Abe is looking at lowering the corporate tax rate as a way to offset a planned increase in sales tax.
Meanwhile, Japan's core machinery orders fell 2.7% in June from the previous month, government data showed Tuesday, less than expectations for a decline of 7.2%.
Elsewhere, the dollar was steady against the euro, with EUR/USD inching up 0.05% to 1.3306.
The euro briefly touched session highs after a report showed that the closely watched ZEW index of German economic sentiment rose to a five-month high of 42.0 in August from July’s reading of 36.3. Economists had forecast a reading of 40.0.
The index of economic expectations for the euro zone was also higher, increasing to 44.0, the highest since April 2010, up from 32.8 in July.
The dollar was almost unchanged against sterling, with GBP/USD dipping 0.02% to 1.5458 after official data showed that the rate of consumer inflation in the U.K. eased in line with forecasts in July.
The Office for National Statistics said consumer price inflation ticked down to 2.8% on a year-over-year basis, in line with economists’ expectations, from 2.9% in June.
The dollar gained ground against the Swiss franc, with USD/CHF climbing 0.23% to 0.9278.
The greenback was broadly higher against its Australian, New Zealand and Canadian counterparts, with AUD/USD sliding 0.10% to 0.9138, NZD/USD losing 0.16% to trade at 0.7997 and USD/CAD rising 0.15% to 1.0318.
The dollar index, which tracks the performance of the greenback versus a basket of six other major currencies, was up 0.17% to 81.56.
