The dollar is currently rising against the Euro and the pound sterling at the end of the trading week, but is losing ground against the Japanese Yen. The House of Representatives voted to approve a bipartisan budget bill to keep the U.S. government operating for the next two fiscal years. Investors are eagerly anticipating the conclusion of the Federal Reserve’s policy meeting next week, for an indication of when the central bank will begin tapering its stimulus measures.
The House voted 332 to 94 in favor of the bill, which was outlined Tuesday by Representative Paul Ryan and Senator Patty Murray. The budget plan erases the threat of another government shutdown in January and also addresses some of the automatic spending cuts, known as the sequester.
The Senate is expected to approve the budget plan next week. President Barack Obama has already said that he will sign the legislation.
With energy prices continuing to fall following a steep drop in the previous month, the Labor Department released a report on Friday showing a modest decrease in producer prices in the month of November. The Labor Department said its producer price index edged down by 0.1 percent in November following a 0.2 percent drop in October. The modest decrease matched economist estimates.
The dollar dipped to an early low of $1.3768 against the Euro on Friday, but has since climbed back to around $1.3725.
Employment in the euro area stayed unchanged for the second successive quarter in the three months to September, data released by statistical office Eurostat revealed Friday. At the end of the third quarter, the seasonally adjusted number of employed persons in the currency bloc was unchanged from the preceding three-month period. In the second quarter also there was no change in the employment level.
Germany’s wholesale prices declined for a fourth consecutive month in November, data from the Federal Statistical Office showed Friday. The wholesale price index fell 2.2 percent year-on-year in November following a 2.7 percent decline in October. On a monthly basis, prices dropped 0.2 percent in November.
The greenback briefly touched an early low of $1.6359 against the pound sterling Friday, but has since bounced back to around $1.6290.
U.K. construction output recovered in October, boosting hopes of strong recovery in the fourth quarter, the Office for National Statistics said Friday. Construction output gained 2.2 percent month-on-month, after declining 0.5 percent in September. The growth was driven by the strength in new work, and repair and maintenance.
Confidence among Britons regarding the prices of their homes increased in December to the highest level in five years, data from a survey conducted by Markit Economics and Knight Frank revealed Friday. The headline house price sentiment index, which measures households’ views of the changes in their property prices over the previous month, rose to 59.4 in December from 57.8 in November, hitting the highest level in five years.
The Bank of Japan and the Bank Indonesia on Friday announced an expansion of their current bilateral swap arrangement with an aim to enhance stability of the financial markets.
The arrangement is an expansion of the current bilateral swap arrangement, which almost doubles the size of the facility to $22.76 billion from $12 billion, Bank Indonesia said in a statement. It also introduces a new feature in the form of a crisis prevention scheme to support potential and actual liquidity needs.
The buck rose to a 5-year high of Y103.912 against the Japanese Yen on Friday, but has since retreated to around Y103.215.
Japan’s industrial production grew 1 percent in October from the prior month, final data from the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry showed Friday. It was faster than the 0.5 percent rise initially estimated.