Dollar Drifts Lower Against Major Rivals On Weak Data
(RTTNews) - The U.S. dollar lost ground against most of its major counterparts on Thursday as data showing a drop in U.S. producer prices raised expectations the Federal Reserve will end its tightening cycle soon.
Data showing an increase in U.S. jobless claims in the week ended April 8 weighed as well on the dollar.
The Labor Department's data showed the producer price index dropped by 0.5% in March following a revised unchanged reading in February. Producer prices were expected to come in unchanged in March, compared to the 0.1% dip originally reported for the previous month.
The data showed the annual rate of producer price growth slowed to 2.7% last month from 4.9% in February. Economists had expected the pace of growth to slow to 3%.
The data has raised hopes the central bank will end its tightening cycle after its next meeting in May.
Another data from the Labor Department showed initial jobless claims climbed to 239,000 last week, up 11,000 from the previous week's unrevised level of 228,000. Economists had expected jobless claims to rise to 232,000.
The dollar index dropped to 100.85 this morning, and despite recovering to 101.01, remains nearly 0.5% down from the previous close.
Against the Euro, the dollar weakened to 1.1049 from 1.0993, giving up more than 0.5%.
The dollar is at 1.2525 against Pound Sterling, easing from 1.2485. Against the Japanese currency, it is trading at 132.64 yen, falling from 133.16 yen.
Against the Aussie, the dollar down at 0.6787, declining from 0.6694, and is trading at CHF 0.8892 against the Swiss currency. Against the loonie, the dollar down at 1.3338.
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