During New York mid-day trading on Tuesday, the US dollar surged up to new multi-day highs against major opponents. According to a report released by the U.S. Commerce Department today, the wholesale inventories edged up by 0.1 percent in June following a 0.5 percent increase in May. Economists had been expecting wholesale inventories to show a more significant increase of about 0.4 percent.
The U.S. Labor Department reported today that productivity fell by 0.9 percent in the second quarter following an upwardly revised 3.9 percent increase in the first quarter. Economists had expected productivity to edge up by 0.1 percent compared to the 2.8 percent growth that had been reported for the previous quarter.
Meanwhile, the Labor Department also said that unit labor costs rose by 0.2 percent in the second quarter compared to a revised 3.7 percent decrease in the first quarter. Labor costs had been expected to increase by about 1.4 percent.
Extending previous session uptrend, the greenback climbed further against the euro in mid-day deals today. At 10:35 am ET, the greenback jumped to an 8-day high of 1.3076 versus the euro, compared to yesterday’s close of 1.3222. As of now, the pair is worth 1.3096.
Against its British and Swiss counterparts, the dollar advanced further and hit fresh multi-day highs of 1.5713 and 1.0620, respectively, at around 10:00 am ET today. Thereafter, the greenback reversed its direction and currently trading near 1.0572 against the franc and 1.5770 versus the pound from Monday’s closing values of 1.0496 and 1.5894, respectively.
The dollar that hit a 5-day high of 86.24 against the Japanese yen at about 8:10 am ET, traded lower in today’s mid-day deals. At present, the greenback-yen pair is worth 85.88, which may be compared to last day’s close of 85.95.
The US currency also edged up against other major opponents in North American mid-day trading. The greenback soared up to a 12-day high of 1.0391 against the Canadian dollar and an 8-day high of 0.9061 versus the Australian dollar at around 10:30 am ET, compared to yesterday’s closing values of 1.0272 and 0.9168, respectively. Thereafter, the buck reversed its direction and presently trading near 1.0351 against the loonie and 0.9086 versus the Aussie.
This afternoon, the US monetary policy makers are widely expected to keep the nation’s key interest rate near zero percent and signal concerns about deflation and downside risks to economic growth.
