U.S. Dollar Weakens As Producer Inflation Softens

(RTTNews) - Reversing direction, the U.S. dollar fell against its major counterparts in the New York session on Friday, as the nation's producer prices unexpectedly edged slightly lower in the month of December.

Data from the Labor Department showed that the producer price index slipped by 0.1 percent in December, matching a revised dip in November.

Economists had expected producer prices to inch up by 0.1 percent compared to the unchanged reading originally reported for the previous month.

Meanwhile, the report said the annual rate of producer price growth accelerated to 1.0 percent in December from a downwardly revised 0.8 percent in November.

The annual rate of producer price growth was expected to speed up to 1.3 percent from the 0.9 percent originally reported for the previous month.

The greenback declined to a 2-day low of 144.34 against the yen, 3-day low of 0.8488 against the franc and a fresh 2-week low of 1.2785 against the pound, off its early highs of 145.56, 0.8550 and 1.2719, respectively. The greenback is seen finding support around 139.00 against the yen, 0.83 against the franc and 1.31 against the pound.

The greenback dropped to 3-day lows of 0.6728 against the aussie and 1.3343 against the loonie, from its early highs of 0.6678 and 1.3395, respectively. The greenback is poised to challenge support around 0.70 against the aussie and 1.30 against the loonie.

The greenback touched 0.6278 against the kiwi, its lowest level since January 4. The currency may possibly face support around the 0.645 level.

The greenback moved down to 1.0986 against the euro, reversing from an early high of 1.0935. If the dollar falls further, it is likely to test support around the 1.12 region.