Finance

Home page

Finance

Dollar edges up from 13-month low, aided by solid U.S. data

24 July 2017 22:03 (UTC +04:00)

The dollar inched up from its lowest level in more than a year on Monday, assisted by stronger-than-expected readings on the U.S. economy, as investors kept a wary eye on developments concerning possible ties between Russia and aides to U.S. President Donald Trump, APA reports quoting Reuters.

The dollar rose from a 13-month low against a basket of six major currencies touched in early trading.

Jared Kushner, Trump's son-in-law and senior advisor, told Senate investigators on Monday he had met with Russian officials four times last year but said he did not collude with Moscow to influence the 2016 U.S. election.

The ongoing probes into the Russia matter by congressional panels and a Justice Department special counsel, as well as weak U.S. economic data and reduced inflation expectations, have weighed on the dollar for much of the month. Market participants say the investigations have been one factor slowing progress on pushing through Trump's pro-growth agenda of tax cuts and infrastructure spending.

Speculators' bets on the dollar swung last week to a net short, meaning more investors bet it will weaken than strengthen, for the first time in more than a year, according to calculations by Reuters and Commodity Futures Trading Commission data. [IMM/FX]

On Monday, Markit's manufacturing and services flash surveys both showed the U.S. economy beating expectations.

With the dollar having fallen below a number of important technical levels last week, investors are now looking to reprice the currency in the current environment, particularly on the dollar/euro trade, analysts said.