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Dollar rises to fresh 9-year highs on upbeat U.S. GDP

Published 12/23/2014, 08:49 AM
Updated 12/23/2014, 08:49 AM
© Reuters. Dollar rises to new mulit-year highs vs. other majors on strong data

© Reuters. Dollar rises to new mulit-year highs vs. other majors on strong data

Investing.com - The dollar rose to fresh nine-year highs against the other major currencies on Tuesday, as data showed that the U.S. economy grew faster than expected in the last quarter.

Trading volumes were expected to remain light this week with many investors away for the Christmas holiday and ahead of the New Year's holiday.

Final data showed that U.S. gross domestic product rose 5.0% in the third quarter, exceeding expectations for a growth rate of 4.3% and up from 3.9% in the three months to June.

A separate report showed that U.S. durable goods orders slipped 0.7% last month, confounding expectations for a 3.0% increase, after a 0.3% rise in October.

Core durable goods orders, which exclude transportation items, fell 0.4% in November after a 1.0% decline in October, whose figure was revised from a previously estimated 1.1% drop.

Analysts had expected core durable goods orders to gain 1.1% last month.

The U.S. dollar index, which measures the greenback against a basket of six major currencies, was rose 0.32% to 90.23, the highest level since December 2005.

EUR/USD slid 0.36% to fresh two-year lows at 1.2184.

Earlier Tuesday, official data showed that French consumer spending rose 0.4% in November, beating expectations for a 0.3% gain, while another report showed that France's economy grew by 0.3% in the third quarter, in line with expectations and unchanged from the previous quarter.

The pound hit new 15-month lows against the dollar, with GBP/USD down 0.48% to 1.5512.

In a report, the Office for National Statistics said the U.K. current account deficit widened to £27.0 billion in the third quarter from £24.3 billion in the second quarter, whose figure was revised from a previously estimated deficit of £23.1 billion.

A separate report showed that U.K. gross domestic product rose 0.7% in the third quarter, in line with expectations and down from a 0.8% growth rate in the three months to June.

Year-on-year, the U.K. economy grew at a rate of 3.6% in the last quarter, above expectations for growth of 3.0% and unchanged from the second quarter's revised rate, which had initially been estimated at 3.0%.

In addition, the British Bankers' Association reported that mortgage approvals rose by £36,700 in November, after an increase of £37,200 in October, whose figure was revised from a previously estimated £37,100 gain.

The Swiss franc hit two-year highs, with USD/CHF up 0.28% at 0.9866, while, the yen reached fresh two-week lows, with USD/JPY rising 0.29% to 120.40.

The Russian ruble remained higher against the dollar, with USD/RUB down 1.87% at 54.90, as it continued to gain support ahead of major month-end tax payments in Russia.

The Australian dollar was trading near four-and-a-half year lows, with AUD/USD down 0.20% at 0.8116, while NZD/USD held steady at 0.7730 after data showed that New Zealand's trade deficit narrowed far more-than-expected to NZ$213 million last month, from NZ$911 million in October.

Meanwhile, USD/CAD edged up 0.11% to 1.1643, re-approaching last week's four-year peak of 1.1674 after data showed that Canada's GDP rose 0.3% in October, beating expectations for a growth rate of 0.1% and down from 0.4% in September.

Later in the day, the U.S. was to release data on consumer sentiment and new home sales.

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