The US dollar gained on the euro today but was flat versus the Great Britain pound and the Japanese yen. Still, the currency was at the highest level in more than a month against the basket of other major currencies and was heading to the biggest weekly gains against the euro since May.
Today’s economic reports from the United States were mostly supportive for the dollar, particularly the housing data, which showed that both housing starts and building permits improved beyond expectations in June. The Consumer Price Index rose 0.3 percent last month, fitting analysts’ predictions perfectly.
A nasty surprise came in the form of the consumer sentiment index released by the University of Michigan. The gauge dropped this month while experts thought that it would be little changed.
The piece of negative data limited the upside movement of the dollar, but the currency was still broadly supported by hopes for an interest rate hike later this year.
EUR/USD dropped from 1.0873 to 1.0849 as of 18:08 GMT today, touching the lowest level since May 27. GBP/USD was at 1.5610, close to the opening level of 1.5603. USD/JPY traded near 124.04, not far from the opening of 124.13.
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