Dollar Mixed After U.S. Retail Sales Data

(RTTNews) - The U.S. dollar showed mixed trading against its major counterparts in the European session on Thursday, following the release of a slew of U.S. economic data, including a report showing an unexpected increase in retail sales in August.

Data from the Commerce Department showed that retail sales rose by 0.3 percent in August following a revised 0.4 percent decrease in July.

Economists had expected retail sales to come in unchanged, matching the unchanged reading originally reported for the previous month.

Excluding a rebound in auto sales, retail sales fell by 0.3 percent in August following a revised unchanged reading in July.

Ex-auto sales were expected to inch up by 0.1 percent compared to the 0.4 percent increase originally reported for the previous month.

Separate report showed another modest decrease in first-time claims for U.S. unemployment benefits in the week ended September 10.

The Labor Department said initial jobless claims slipped to 213,000, a decrease of 5,000 from the previous week's revised level of 218,000.

Economists had expected jobless claims to inch up to 226,000 from the 222,000 originally reported for the previous week.

The Fed is expected to deliver another super-sized hike at next week's meeting.

Traders are pricing in a 75 basis point hike by the Fed, while some of them see a full-point move.

The greenback was down against the euro, at 1.0018. If the greenback extends drop, 1.07 is possibly seen as its next support level.

Data from Eurostat showed that the euro area trade deficit widened in July to the highest level since the series began in 1999.

The trade shortfall widened to a record EUR 40.3 billion in July from EUR 32.2 billion in June.

The greenback remained lower against the franc, touching a 2-day low of 0.9556. This follows a 6-day high of 0.9642 set at 1:30 am ET. The currency is likely to find support around the 0.91 region.

The greenback retreated to 143.15 against the yen, from a high of 143.80 seen at 3 am ET. The next possible support for the greenback is seen around the 119.00 level.

Data from the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry showed that Japan's tertiary activity declined for the second straight month in July, and at a faster-than-expected pace.

The seasonally adjusted tertiary activity index dropped 0.6 percent month-on-month in July, after a 0.4 percent fall in June. Economists had forecast a 0.1 percent slight decrease.

The greenback rose to 1.1471 against the pound, its highest level since September 8. Should the greenback strengthens further, it is likely to test resistance around the 1.13 region.