020 7898 0500The US dollar has seen varying fortunes this week, thanks to conflicting sentiment emanating from the country. Monday started with continuing negative reaction to the words from Janet Yellen last week. As Chairwoman of the Federal Reserve, her view that the current low interest rates would be maintained caused the dollar to stay on its downwards path, even with the existing home sales figure beating its expectations. This trend was halted on Tuesday, however, as the new home sales also beat expectations to give more positivity for the dollar. This was short lived though, mid-week saw the two influential releases both miss their expected levels. The durable goods orders showed an unexpected decline, whilst the revised first quarter gross domestic product showed a contraction of 2.9%, the worst since the depths of the recession. Yesterday was a quieter affair, with no one clear movement. The only release was the unemployment claims, but came in as expected markets this did not have much of an effect on the market.
Today sees out the week in a continued subdued fashion, with little of note to effect the dollar. The only minor figure due is the consumer sentiment from the University of Michigan, and as such the dollar could have little to go on.
