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Forex - Dollar mostly higher amid slew of data points

Published 05/30/2013, 09:13 PM
Updated 05/30/2013, 09:15 PM

Investing.com - The U.S. dollar traded higher against most of its major rivals during Friday’s Asian session following a slew of economic data points released at the end of the week.

In Asian trading Friday, EUR/USD inched down 0.05% to 1.3042 after the U.S. Commerce Department said U.S. first-quarter GDP grew 2.4%, missing economists’ expectations of 2.5% growth. Government spending plunged 4.9%, well ahead of the 4.1% estimate.

Initial claims for jobless benefits rose by 10,000 to 354,000 last week, according to the U.S. Labor Department. Economists expected a reading of 340,000 claims. The less volatile four-week moving average rose by 6,750 to 347,250.

The National Association of Realtors said its Pending Home Sales Index for April inched up 0.3% to 106. That is good for the highest reading since April 2010. Economists expected an increase of 1.1%. The U.S. is the world’s largest oil consumer.

GBP/USD nudged lower by 0.03% to 1.5230 after the U.K. Gfk index of consumer confidence rose to a seasonally adjusted -22, from -27 in March. Analysts expected an April reading of -26.

USD/JPY jumped 0.45% to 101.19 after data showed Japanese consumer prices fell 0.4% in April on a year-over-year basis. That was the reading economists expected.

A separate report showed Japan’s unemployment rate remained at 4.1%, still good for the lowest level since November 2008. The jobs-to-applicants ratio rose to 0.89 from the March reading of 0.86, reaching its highest level since June 2008.

Another report showed Japanese household spending rose 1.5% in April, but that is down from a 5.2% increase in March and below the 3.1% increase analysts expected. Separately, the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry said Japan's industrial production rose 1.7% in April. Those surveyed expect the May number to be flat with April and 1.4% decrease in June.

USD/CHF rose 0.11% to 0.9544 while USD/CAD inched up 0.06% to 1.0305.

AUD/USD rose 0.10% to 0.9673 while NZD/USD advanced 0.24% to 0.8095 after Statistics New Zealand said the country’s merchandise terms of trade rose 4.1% in the first quarter.

The U.S. Dollar Index rose 0.06% to 83.10.


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