Currency Note US Dollar

US Dollar still flying high

By Ricky Bean January 19th, 2015

The US dollar finished off last week in a positive manner, following on from the Swiss National Bank’s unexpected move to abolish its euro peg. This, coupled with some strong economic data from stateside, allowed the dollar to move to an overall 11-year high.

While the inflation came in a little lower than forecast, the dollar managed to reverse the negativity from this, thanks to the Consumer Sentiment figure from the country. This came out significantly ahead of expectations, moving up to the highest level in 11 years. The dollar rose against most of its major partners on this news, with any positive data increasing hopes of an interest rate rise.

This week starts with no data from the US, with markets closed in observance of Martin Luther King Day. Tuesday is almost as quiet, with just some words from a member of the US Federal Reserve to interest investors. Wednesday sees the first major piece of data from the country, from the building permits figures, before Thursday’s regular showing from the labour market in the form of unemployment claims data. Friday then rounds off a particularly quiet week in likewise fashion, with just the two smaller releases of the flash manufacturing Purchasing Managers’ Index (PMI) and the existing home sales data that are liable to impact the markets directly.