The US dollar softened today after the release of mixed economic data from the United States. The currency trimmed its gains against the Great Britain pound and the Japanese yen while against the euro the greenback demonstrated losses.
Pending home sales rose 3.4 percent in April to the highest level since May 2006. Meanwhile, initial claims for unemployment benefits rose by 7,000 to 282,000 last week instead of falling as analysts had predicted. The mixed data gave the greenback no clear direction for movement, but prospects for monetary tightening in the USA and worries about the situation with Greece and its place in the eurozone should continue to benefit the currency in the longer run.
In the shorter term, the situation does not look as good for the dollar. The second report about US gross domestic product in the first quarter of this year will be released tomorrow, and experts predict that it would show a drop by 0.8 percent. If that is the case, the currency is likely to ease even further.
EUR/USD rallied from 1.0903 to 1.0971 as of 22:25 GMT today. GBP/USD fell from 1.5351 to 1.5318. USD/JPY traded near 123.85 following the rally from 123.62 to 124.46, the highest level since December 2002.
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