US Dollar Drops To New Multi-week Low Against Yen After GDP Data
The U.S. dollar traded lower against major rivals following the release of gross domestic product and consumer confidence index data in New York morning trading on Tuesday. The greenback dropped to a multi-week low against the Japanese yen.
While the Commerce Department’s preliminary report on third quarter gross domestic product released on Tuesday continued to show growth in the economy following four consecutive quarters of contraction, the pace of growth was downwardly revised from the advance estimate.
The report showed that GDP increased by an annual rate of 2.8 percent in the third quarter compared to the 3.5 percent growth that had been reported last month. Economists had been expecting the pace of GDP growth to be revised down to about 2.9 percent.
Today morning, the U.S. Conference Board released a report showing that the consumer confidence index rose to 49.5 in November from an upwardly revised 48.7 in October. The increase surprised economists, who had expected the index to edge down to 47.5 from the 47.7 originally reported for the previous month.
Extending European session’s downtrend, the greenback declined further against the yen and touched a new multi-week low of 88.36 by about 8:50 am ET. The greenback-yen pair that closed yesterday’s New York session at 88.98, is now worth 88.52.
The U.S. currency also edged up against its major European counterparts in New York morning deals today. At around 9:00 am ET, the greenback slipped to 1.0083 against the Swiss franc and 1.4990 versus the euro from early European session’s highs of 1.0155 and 1.4890, respectively. Currently, the greenback is trading near 1.4939 against the euro and 1.0120 versus the franc.
Against the British pound, the dollar ticked down and presently trading at 1.6585 from recent high of 1.6500 today. At Monday’s close, the pair was quoted at 1.6607.
Crude oil prices dropped sharply on Tuesday amid demand concerns, following a discouraging gross domestic product report. Traders also looked ahead to inventory data.
Light sweet crude for January delivery dropped to $75.89 per barrel, down $1.68 on the session. Prices touched as low as $75.60.
