US dollar falls on mixed data

The US dollar slipped against most major currencies on Wednesday as data from the country came out mixed.

The May purchasing managers' index registered 51.3 percent, an increase of 0.5 percentage point from the April reading of 50.8 percent, according to the Institute for Supply Management (ISM) on Wednesday.

Meanwhile, US construction spending during April 2016 was estimated at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of $1,133.9 billion, 1.8 percent below the revised March estimate, reported the Commerce Department on Wednesday, according to Xinhua.

In the previous session, the Commerce Department said that the price index for the personal consumption expenditure (PCE), a gauge for the inflation level preferred by the Federal Reserve, increased 0.3 percent from a month earlier.

The core PCE price index, excluding volatile food and energy, rose 0.2 percent from the previous month and 1.6 percent from a year ago, still below the central bank's target of 2 percent.

Analysts said the mixed data did not support bets on a rate-hike as early as June.

The dollar index, which treasures the greenback against six major peers, was down 0.49 percent at 95.419 in late trading.

In late New York trading, the euro rose to $1.1182 from $1.1139 of the previous session, and the British pound decreased to $1.4406 from $1.4477. The Australian dollar went up to $0.7254 from $0.7223.

The dollar bought 109.51 Japanese yen, lower than 110.54 yen of the previous session. The dollar slipped to 0.9883 Swiss francs from 0.9930 Swiss francs, and it inched down to 1.3072 Canadian dollars from 1.3132 Canadian dollars.

--IANS

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