RTTN: US Dollar Extends Uptrend Against European Majors
(RTTNews) - During early European deals on Friday, the US dollar extended its Asian session gains against the European currency, the British pound and the Swiss franc. Meanwhile, the dollar recovered from its Asian session's downtrend against the Japanese yen.
Traders are now likely to focus on the North American session, in which the U.S. housing starts report for June is due at 8:30 am ET.
Also, second quarter earnings results from Citigroup, Bank of America and General Electric are all due out later in the day.
Against the European currency, the US dollar edged higher during early deals on Friday. At 4:00 am ET, the dollar reached a high of 1.4077 against the euro, compared to 1.4149 hit late New York Thursday. The next upside target level for the dollar is seen around 1.375.
In economic news from Europe, Italian current account deficit contracted to EUR 422 million in May from EUR 6.3 billion deficit recorded last year, the Bank of Italy said today. The current account deficit contraction was led by an increase in goods trade surplus to EUR 2.2 billion from the previous year's EUR 1.2 billion surplus.
A report released by Eurostat said the trade surplus in the Eurozone stood at EUR 1.9 billion in May, on an unadjusted basis, narrowing from a surplus of EUR 2.7 billion in the preceding month. Economists expected the trade balance to be flat. Exports fell 24% year-on-year in May to EUR 97.7 billion, slower than a 26% fall in the preceding month. Imports were down 27% annually to EUR 96.8 billion in May, at the same pace as in April.
Italian industrial orders rose 0.4% month-on-month in May after falling revised 3.6% in April, statistical office Istat said today. That was the first increase since July 2008. Orders increased less than the expected growth of 1%. On an annual basis, demand for Italian industrial products plunged 31%, eighth consecutive fall, after a 32.2% decline in April.
The US currency that closed Thursday's North American session at 1.6440 against the British pound edged higher to a 3-day high of 1.6287 at 4:00 am ET Friday. The pound-dollar pair is currently trading at 1.6310 with 1.603 seen as the next target level.
Against the Swiss franc, the greenback extended its Asian session gains during Friday's early European deals. At 3:10 am ET, the pound-franc pair climbed to 1.0792, compared to Thursday's closing value of 1.0733. On the upside, 1.092 is seen as the next target level for the pair.
