By Laura Matthews and Joice Alves
NEW YORK/LONDON (Reuters) – The U.S. dollar rose against a basket of major currencies on Thursday, after recent jobless claims data strengthened the case for the Federal Reserve to halt interest rate hikes, but kept a high bar for a year-end cuts.
The number of Americans filing new claims for jobless benefits jumped last week to the highest level since late 2021, suggesting that higher interest rates were starting to weigh on the labor market.
The labor market remains tight, with 1.6 job openings for every unemployed person in March, well above the 1.0-1.2 range that is consistent with a jobs market that is not generating too much inflation.
U.S. producer prices, on the other hand, showed a moderate rise last month, posting the smallest annual increase in producer inflation in more than two years, further evidence that inflation pressures were easing. The producer price index for final demand rose 0.2% last month. In the 12 months through April, the PPI increased 2.3%. That was the smallest year-on-year rise since January 2021 and followed a 2.7% advance in March.
“For the dollar, I don’t think it meaningfully alters what’s already baked in,” said Joe Manimbo, senior market analyst, at Convera in Washington. “I think there’s a strong conviction that the Fed will pause rate hikes. But at the same time, we’re not seeing an airtight case for rate cuts to materialize by the end of the year.”
The dollar index, which tracks the U.S. currency against six major peers, was at 101.92, up 0.7%
Sterling, which earlier trimmed declines after the Bank of England raised interest rates for the 12th consecutive time, was down 0.8% at $1.2522.
The euro, which slipped to a three-week low following Chinese data showing more evidence of weakness in its post-COVID recovery, was last seen at $1.0904, down 0.6%.
“The dollar’s recovery remains intact as China weakness and the Bank of England’s cautious rate guidance overshadow signs of the U.S. labor market losing steam and inflation continuing to moderate,” said Manimbo.
Fed funds futures traders are pricing in a pause before expected rate cuts in September. The Fed’s target range stands at 5% to 5.25%.
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Currency bid prices at 9:22AM (1322 GMT)
Description RIC Last U.S. Close Pct Change YTD Pct High Bid Low Bid
Previous Change
Session
Dollar index 101.9200 101.4100 +0.51% -1.517% +101.9700 +101.3000
Euro/Dollar $1.0919 $1.0983 -0.58% +1.90% +$1.0998 +$1.0913
Dollar/Yen 134.0350 134.3900 -0.24% +2.26% +134.8350 +133.7350
Euro/Yen 146.35 147.57 -0.83% +4.32% +147.5900 +146.1900
Dollar/Swiss 0.8933 0.8898 +0.39% -3.39% +0.8950 +0.8889
Sterling/Dollar $1.2545 $1.2627 -0.65% +3.73% +$1.2640 +$1.2542
Dollar/Canadian 1.3456 1.3372 +0.64% -0.68% +1.3458 +1.3366
Aussie/Dollar $0.6714 $0.6779 -0.97% -1.53% +$0.6796 +$0.6712
Euro/Swiss 0.9752 0.9771 -0.19% -1.45% +0.9782 +0.9747
Euro/Sterling 0.8702 0.8697 +0.06% -1.61% +0.8705 +0.8663
NZ $0.6327 $0.6368 -0.63% -0.35% +$0.6384 +$0.6326
Dollar/Dollar
Dollar/Norway 10.5980 10.5020 +0.84% +7.91% +10.6040 +10.4750
Euro/Norway 11.5757 11.5206 +0.48% +10.31% +11.5856 +11.4795
Dollar/Sweden 10.2859 10.2080 +0.12% -1.17% +10.2902 +10.2077
Euro/Sweden 11.2278 11.2141 +0.12% +0.70% +11.2482 +11.2027
(Reporting by Matthews in New York and Joice Alves in London; Additional reporting by Kevin Buckland in Tokyo; Editing by Elaine Hardcastle and Nick Macfie)
Disclaimer: This report is auto generated from the Reuters news service. ThePrint holds no responsibilty for its content.