Investing.com – The dollar turned positive against a basket of currencies after a duo of reports on inflation and retail sales topped forecasts, reinforcing investor expectations for a December interest rate hike.
The U.S. dollar index, which measures the greenback’s strength against a trade-weighted basket of six major currencies, rose by 0.01% to 93.73.
The Labor Department said on Wednesday its Consumer Price Index rose 0.1% last month after jumping 0.5% in September.
Retail sales increased 0.2% last month, the Commerce Department said Wednesday, after heavy discounting by automobile manufacturing lifted purchases of motor vehicles in areas affected by the hurricanes.
The duo of reports helped cement investor expectations for a December rate hike, spurring a rebound in the dollar after it slumped to two-week lows in early morning trade.
A December rate hike appeared to fully priced into markets as 100% of traders expected the Federal Reserve to raise rates in December, according to investing.com’s fed rate monitor tool.
The rebound in the dollar weighed on euro as the single struggled to add to Tuesday’s gains which followed a bullish third quarter German GDP Data.
EUR/USD fell 0.02% to $1.1795, while EUR/GBP fell 0.09% to 0.8954.
GBP/USD rose 0.05% to $1.3173, as strong UK labor market data helped offset negative sentiment on sterling amid investor uncertainty concerning brexit and Prime Theresa Minister May’s leadership position.
USD/CAD rose 0.42% to C$1.2786 as ongoing weakness in oil prices continued to support the pair.