US dollar rises after GDP report

The US dollar climbed against most major currencies as investors digested the country's economic growth dada for the fourth quarter of 2016.

In late New York trading on Friday, the euro rose to $1.0696 from $1.0695 in the previous session, and the British pound fell to $1.2555 from $1.2600 in the previous session, Xinhua news agency reported.

The Australian dollar moved up to $0.7551 from $0.7546.

The US dollar bought 115.08 Japanese yen, higher than 114.41 yen of the previous session. The US dollar climbed to 0.9995 Swiss francs from 0.9992 Swiss francs, and it gained to 1.3134 Canadian dollars from 1.3097 Canadian dollars.

US real gross domestic product (GDP) increased at an annual rate of 1.9 per cent in the fourth quarter of 2016, missing market consensus, according to the "advance" estimate released by the Commerce Department Friday.

"GDP rose just 1.6 per cent in 2016 as a whole, the weakest since 2011. With oil prices stable now and oil output rising again, 2017 GDP growth is likely to be 2.5 per cent even before any policy changes go into effect," said Jay Morelock and Chris Low, economists at FTN Financial, in a joint note.

Traders believed that the dollar was supported by expectations that US President Donald Trump would deliver on his campaign promise to put policies in place to further bolster the country's economy.

The dollar index, which measures the greenback against six major peers, increased 0.18 per cent at 100.56 in late trading on Friday.

--IANS

pgh/