U.S. Dollar Pulling Back Modestly Off Six-Month Highs

(RTTNews) - The value of the U.S. dollar is seeing modest weakness during trading on Friday, giving back ground following the advance seen on Thursday.

The U.S. dollar index is currently down 0.05 points or 0.1 percent at 105.35 after reaching its best levels in six month's during yesterday's trading.

The greenback is trading at 147.88 yen versus the 147.47 yen it fetched at the close of New York trading on Thursday. Against the euro, the dollar is valued at $1.0649 compared to yesterday's $1.0659.

The modest pullback by the dollar comes as traders look ahead to the Federal Reserve's monetary policy meeting next week.

While the Fed is widely expected to leave interest rates unchanged next week, recent U.S. economic data has led to uncertainty about future rate hikes.

The Labor Department released a report this morning showing a bigger than expected increase in U.S. import prices in the month of August as well as a much bigger than expected surge in U.S. export prices.

The Labor Department said import prices climbed by 0.5 percent in August after a downwardly revised 0.1 percent uptick in July.

Economists had expected import prices to rise by 0.3 percent compared to the 0.4 percent increase originally reported for the previous month.

Meanwhile, the report said export prices spiked by 1.3 percent in August after climbing by a downwardly revised 0.5 percent in July.

Economist had expected export prices to increase by 0.3 percent compared to the 0.7 percent advance originally reported for the previous month.

A separate report released by the New York Fed showed a substantial turnaround in New York manufacturing activity in the month of September.

The Federal Reserve also released a report showing U.S. industrial production increased by much more than expected in the month of August.

The report said industrial production climbed by 0.4 percent in August following a downwardly revised 0.7 percent advance in July.

Economists had expected industrial production to inch up by 0.1 percent compared to the 1.0 percent jump originally reported for the previous month.

Meanwhile, a report from the University of Michigan showed a notable decrease in near-term and long-term inflation expectations.