020 7898 0500This has been a very negative week for the US dollar, with the currency weakening due to poor data and continued sterling strength after the UK election result. Data releases during the week did not help with the recent slowdown in the US economy – and with job openings down on expectations, and US Federal Reserve member Williams accepting that an interest rate rise will be at the end of the year rather than June.
Wednesday showed telling signs of a slowdown of the US economy, with much weaker than expected retail sales figures showing no growth in the sector. This, coupled with poor inflation data on Thursday, could mean that the US is heading towards deflation. The weekly unemployment figures were also released yesterday, with better than expected figures – but with continued negative releases, this outweighed any attempt of the US dollar to strengthen.
We could see positivity returning to the US dollar, with positive data releases expected today for the figures in the Manufacturing index, industrial production and consumer sentiment (Consumer confidence).
