The US dollar bounced after the intraday decline, trimming its losses versus the euro and gaining on the Great Britain pound and the Japanese yen. Friday’s economic data played at least some part in the currency’s moves.
The dollar declined initially as US economic growth slowed from 3.5% in the third quarter of 2016 to 1.9% in the fourth quarter, falling below the consensus forecast. Durable goods orders were not helpful either, declining unexpectedly by 0.4% in December. The consumer sentiment index reported by the University of Michigan eased the pressure on the dollar a bit, rising from 98.2 in December to 98.5 in January, beating analysts’ predictions.
Helping the dollar too were hopes for pro-growth policies of US President Donald Trump. While there are also concerns that his protectionism may hurt trade with US longtime partners, such fears did not hurt the dollar much, at least during Friday’s trading.
EUR/USD traded at about 1.0691 as of 19:14 GMT today after opening at 1.0680 and reaching the session maximum of 1.0721. GBP/USD fell from 1.2591 to 1.2553, reaching the low of 1.2516 intraday. USD/JPY rallied from 114.52 to 115.10.
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