US dollar
The dollar rose against a basket of currencies, Thursday, after data showed that the number of Americans who filed new applications for unemployment benefits unexpectedly fell last week, which reinforced expectations that the US Federal Reserve will continue to raise interest rates if the economy remains strong.
The US Labor Department said Thursday that first-time applications for state unemployment benefits decreased by 9,000 to 228,000 after adjusting for seasonal factors in the week ending July 15.
Economists polled by Reuters had expected the number of applications to reach 242 thousand.
The data reinforced expectations that the US central bank will continue to raise interest rates after a widely expected increase of 25 basis points next week.
The dollar fell after last week’s consumer and producer price data indicated that price pressures made a return to the Fed’s 2 percent inflation target more likely.
price movements
The dollar index, which measures the performance of the US currency against a basket of other major currencies, rose 0.21 percent to 100.44.
The euro fell 0.15 percent to $1.1184.
And the pound sterling continued its decline after data showed yesterday, Wednesday, that inflation in Britain recorded its slowest pace in more than a year at 7.9 percent, which is likely to relieve some pressure on the Bank of England to continue raising interest rates sharply.
The pound sterling fell 0.48% to $1.2875, after hitting $1.3144 last Thursday, the highest level since April 2022.
The dollar rose 0.09 percent against the Japanese yen to 139.83 yen.
The Australian dollar rose today, Thursday, after the country’s jobs data exceeded expectations for the second consecutive month in June, leaving the door open for the Reserve Bank of Australia to raise interest rates further.
The Australian dollar recorded an increase of 0.66 percent in the latest transactions, to $ 0.6817.
2023-07-20 16:53:27
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