Bloomberg Business Week – Excon Fuji Securities U.S. dollar inches higher pushed by upbeat U.S. data

TOKYO, Japan, Jan. 12, 2017 /Bloomberg Business Week/ Excon Fuji Securities have noted that the U.S. dollar moved slightly higher against the other major currencies on Thursday, driven higher by the release of upbeat U.S. economic reports, partially offsetting the negative impact of uncertainty over whether the Federal Reserve will raise interest rates this year.

Excon Fuji Securities provided market commentary on the USD/JPY as it fell 0.21% to 113.86, while EUR/USD declined 0.38% to 1.1086. The U.S. dollar index was up 0.08% at 96.95.

Excon Fuji Securities signaled that the data related to the U.S. Department of Labor showed that the number of individuals filing for initial jobless benefits in the week ending February 13 fell by 7,000 to a 12-week low of 262,000 from 269,000 in the previous week, compared with expectations of a rise by 6,000 to 275,000 last week.

The dollar was driven lower after Fed said, in the minutes of the bank’s January policy meeting that tighter global financial conditions could weigh on the U.S. economy and considered changing their planned path of interest rate hikes in 2016," commented Charles Hall, Director of Corporate Equities at Excon Fuji Securities 

Sentiment was further weakened after the Organization for Economic Cooperation and
Development (OECD) cut its global growth forecast for this year, warning that some emerging markets are at risk of exchange-rate volatility. It added that global gross domestic product would expand 3.0% in 2016, down from November’s prediction of 3.3%.

Excon Fuji Securities highlighted the European Central Bank as it said in its minutes of its January meeting that it is prepared to inject further monetary easing next month if necessary to bolster growth, adding that “In a situation where risks were predominantly on the downside and new downside risks were emerging, it would be preferable to act pre-emptively."