The dollar lost some ground but remained with close distance of a
more than 11-year peak against the other major currencies on Friday, as
investors awaited the release of fourth-quarter U.S. economic growth
data, as well as additional U.S. reports due later in the day.
The dollar remained supported after the Federal Reserve indicated this week that interest rates could start to rise around mid-year.
The greenback was also boosted by data on Thursday showing that U.S. jobless claims fell to the lowest level since 2000 last week.
The U.S. dollar index, which measures the greenback’s strength against a trade-weighted basket of six major currencies, was down 0.10% to 94.90, not far from last Friday's more than 11-year highs of 95.77.
EUR/USD was almost unchanged at 1.1320 after Eurostat reported that the annual rate of euro zone inflation fell by 0.6% in January, after a 0.2% slip in December. Economists had expected an annual decline of 0.5%.
Core inflation, which strips out volatile measures such as food and energy costs, rose 0.5% on a year-over-year basis, but was still well below the European Central Bank's target of close to, but just under 2%.
In a separate report, Eurostat said the euro zone’s unemployment rate ticked down to 11.4% in December from 11.5% the previous month, confounding expectations for the rate to remain unchanged.
Earlier Friday, official data showed that French consumer spending increased by 1.5% in December, exceeding expectations for a 0.2% rise, while a separate report showed that Spanish GDP rose 0.7% in the fourth quarter of 2014, above expectations for a 0.6% gain.
In Germany, retail sales gained 0.2% last month, official data showed, disappointing expectations for a 0.3% rise.
Read more Click here / www.trade4x.net
The dollar remained supported after the Federal Reserve indicated this week that interest rates could start to rise around mid-year.
The greenback was also boosted by data on Thursday showing that U.S. jobless claims fell to the lowest level since 2000 last week.
The U.S. dollar index, which measures the greenback’s strength against a trade-weighted basket of six major currencies, was down 0.10% to 94.90, not far from last Friday's more than 11-year highs of 95.77.
EUR/USD was almost unchanged at 1.1320 after Eurostat reported that the annual rate of euro zone inflation fell by 0.6% in January, after a 0.2% slip in December. Economists had expected an annual decline of 0.5%.
Core inflation, which strips out volatile measures such as food and energy costs, rose 0.5% on a year-over-year basis, but was still well below the European Central Bank's target of close to, but just under 2%.
In a separate report, Eurostat said the euro zone’s unemployment rate ticked down to 11.4% in December from 11.5% the previous month, confounding expectations for the rate to remain unchanged.
Earlier Friday, official data showed that French consumer spending increased by 1.5% in December, exceeding expectations for a 0.2% rise, while a separate report showed that Spanish GDP rose 0.7% in the fourth quarter of 2014, above expectations for a 0.6% gain.
In Germany, retail sales gained 0.2% last month, official data showed, disappointing expectations for a 0.3% rise.
Read more Click here / www.trade4x.net
