US dollar rallies on upbeat data

The US dollar climbed against most major currencies on Friday as economic data from the country came out positive.

The US Commerce Department reported on Friday that the advance estimates of US retail and food services sales for April were $453.4 billion, seasonally adjusted, an increase of 1.3 percent from the previous month, and 3 percent above April 2015, Xinhua reported.

The Producer Price Index for final demand rose 0.2 percent in April, seasonally adjusted, the US Labour Department said on Friday. Final demand declined 0.1 percent in March and 0.2 percent in February.

The index for final demand less foods, energy, and trade services moved up 0.3 percent in April following no change in March.

The upbeat data spurred market expectation for more than one interest rate-hike later this year. The dollar index, which measures the greenback against six major peers, was up 0.53 percent at 94.653 in late trading.

In late New York trading, the euro fell to $1.1305 from $1.1378 of the previous session, and the British pound dipped to $1.4360 from $1.4447. The Australian dollar went down to $0.7265 from $0.7326.

The dollar bought 108.65 Japanese yen, lower than 108.06 yen of the previous session. The dollar increased to 0.9757 Swiss francs from 0.9703 Swiss francs, and it inched up to 1.2947 Canadian dollars from 1.2828 Canadian dollars.

--IANS

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