© Reuters. One hundred dollar bills in a photo from the Reuters archive.
NEW YORK (Reuters) – Investors are quitting as weaker-than-expected data in the US has reinforced hopes that tightening monetary policy would ease lower-than-expected increases in its battle against inflation.
The range of movements of the dollar against various currencies on Thursday was significant.
By 1730 GMT, the US currency was down 2.9% against the Japanese yen, the largest one-day drop since July 2016.
Against the euro, the dollar fell 1.4%, the largest decline since November 4.
Against a basket of currencies, the dollar fell roughly 1.9 percent, on track to post its worst daily performance in nearly seven years.
The Labor Department said its CPI rose 0.4% in October, the same rate as the previous month’s increase. Economists interviewed by Reuters had expected the consumer price index to rise by 0.6%.
The data caused U.S. yields to drop as the benchmark 10-year bond price hit 3.8555%, the lowest level in nearly a month, narrowing the gap between U.S. and foreign government debt yields. which has damaged the attractiveness of the dollar.
The dollar’s decline could be a relief for US export companies and multinationals whose balance sheets have been hit by the appreciation of the US currency this year, as well as for emerging market economies that borrow in dollars.
(Prepared by Marwa Salam and Ahmed El-Sayed for the Arab Bulletin – Edited by Mustafa Saleh)
