The dollar steadied on Friday after a significant rise in U.S. producer prices renewed speculation the Federal Reserve will hike interest rates ahead of schedule.
Earlier this week, the Fed signaled they are in no hurry to tighten monetary policy.
Today’s inflation data, however, could be a game changer for policy makers on the fence about whether to hike rates soon after bond-buying has wound down completely.
The dollar index was last at 79.42 for a weekly loss of 1.2 percent, its worst decline this year.
Traders sifted through a pile of economic data today, including consumer price inflation figures from Germany and China.
The dollar was little changed at $1.3890 versus the euro, holding near a 2 1/2-year low set back in March.
Mid-morning gains helped to dollar to $1.6730 versus the sterling, up about 0.3 percent from yesterday.
The buck inched up slightly from a monthly low near Y101.30 versus the resurgent yen. The yen has gained 2.6 percent this year, with gains accelerating this week amid weakness in global equities.
In economic news, U.S. producer prices recorded their largest increase in nine months in March as the cost of food and services rose.
The Labor Department said its producer price index for final demand advanced by 0.5 percent in March after edging down by 0.1 percent in February. That was the largest increase since June last year. Economists had been expecting the index to tick up by only 0.1 percent.
Harmonized inflation in Germany slowed to its lowest level in nearly four years, final data from Destatis showed. The harmonized index of consumer prices rose 0.9 percent year-on-year in March, in line with flash estimate.
China’s consumer price inflation accelerated in March on higher food prices, but remained within the government’s full year 3.5 percent target, data from the National Bureau of Statistics revealed.
Consumer prices rose 2.4 percent from a year ago following a 2 percent rise in February, matching economists’ expectations.
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Apple now has Rhapsody as an app, which is a great start, but it is currently hampered by the inability to store locally on your iPod, and has a dismal 64kbps bit rate. If this changes, then it will somewhat negate this advantage for the Zune, but the 10 songs per month will still be a big plus in Zune Pass’ favor.
Between me and my husband we’ve owned more MP3 players over the years than I can count, including Sansas, iRivers, iPods (classic & touch), the Ibiza Rhapsody, etc. But, the last few years I’ve settled down to one line of players. Why? Because I was happy to discover how well-designed and fun to use the underappreciated (and widely mocked) Zunes are.
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The new Zune browser is surprisingly good, but not as good as the iPod’s. It works well, but isn’t as fast as Safari, and has a clunkier interface. If you occasionally plan on using the web browser that’s not an issue, but if you’re planning to browse the web alot from your PMP then the iPod’s larger screen and better browser may be important.
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The Zune concentrates on being a Portable Media Player. Not a web browser. Not a game machine. Maybe in the future it’ll do even better in those areas, but for now it’s a fantastic way to organize and listen to your music and videos, and is without peer in that regard. The iPod’s strengths are its web browsing and apps. If those sound more compelling, perhaps it is your best choice.
Apple now has Rhapsody as an app, which is a great start, but it is currently hampered by the inability to store locally on your iPod, and has a dismal 64kbps bit rate. If this changes, then it will somewhat negate this advantage for the Zune, but the 10 songs per month will still be a big plus in Zune Pass’ favor.