Dollar Loses Ground Against Major Counterparts

(RTTNews) - The U.S. dollar fell on Friday amid easing worries about a trade war, and on U.S. President Donald Trump's call to global central banks to lower interest rates.

The dollar shed ground on Trump's remarks that he would rather not impose tariffs on China, suggesting a potentially softer stance on tariffs against the country.

In economic news, a report released by the National Association of Realtors showed existing home sales in the U.S. jumped by much more than expected in the month of December, shooting up by 2.2% to an annual rate of 4.24 million, after surging by 4.7% to a rate of 4.15 million in November.

Economists had expected existing home sales to rise by 1% to an annual rate of 4.19 million.

Revised data released by the University of Michigan showed consumer sentiment in the U.S. unexpectedly deteriorated by more than previously estimated in the month of January.

The University of Michigan said its consumer sentiment index for January was downwardly revised to 71.1 from the preliminary reading of 73.2. Economists had expected the index to be unrevised. The consumer sentiment index is down from the final December reading of 74.0, marking the first decrease in six months.

The dollar index dropped to 107.22 in the New York session, and despite recovering to 107.46, reamined firmly down with a loss of about 0.55%.

Against the Euro, the dollar weakened to 1.0496 from 1.0418. Against Pound Sterling, the dollar fell more than 1% to 1.2485.

The dollar edged down marginally aginst the Japanese currency, easing to 155.93 yen a unit. Against the Aussie, the dollar weakened to 0.6314.

The dollar declined marginally against the Swiss franc to CHF 0.9060, and against the Loonie, it traded at C$ 1.4339 a unit, down more than 0.3%.