020 7898 0500The US dollar has a mixed week as poor retails sales data and comments about interest rates caused shifts in the market
Much weaker than expected retail sales data out of the US mid-week caused the US dollar to weaken with figures coming out 1% lower than estimated showing retails sales at -0.3%. This caused speculation that the US Central Bank may need to reconsider raising interest rates in 2015 which some fear could harm the economy.
Despite these concerns, the US dollar benefitted as the Federal Reserve Chairperson – Janet Yellen suggested the US central bank was on track for an interest rate hike this year.
The possible rate hike is data dependent, meaning the better than expected initial jobless claims data was able to fuel this idea further – and help the US dollar gain against the majority of its counterparts, reaching fresh 6-year highs versus the Canadian, Australian and New Zealand dollars.
