Saturday, 15 August 2015 14:54
NEW YORK: The dollar gained against the euro Friday after solid US economic data boosted the chances of a Federal Reserve interest rate increase.
Besides the euro, the dollar advanced on the pound, dipped against the Japanese yen and was essentially flat against the Swiss franc.
The Labor Department said its producer price index rose 0.2 percent in July, slightly above the 0.1 percent increase projected by analysts.
Industrial output increased 0.6 percent in July, far above the revised 0.1 percent gain in June, due to a strong gain in automobile manufacturing.
Those reports contrasted with Eurostat data that showed the eurozone expanded at 0.3 percent in the three months to June after a gain of 0.4 percent in the first quarter.
Joe Manimbo, senior market analyst at Western Union Business Solutions, said the US data kept alive the chance of an “imminent” Fed rate hike and helped to offset some of the worries about the effects of the China currency devaluation.
“The dollar lost ground this week after China cheapened its currency and oil tumbled to six-year lows, global headwinds that markets saw as potentially keeping the Fed from raising interest rates this year,” Manimbo said.
