Dollar Rises, Gains Against Major Counterparts

(RTTNews) - The U.S. dollar climbed higher on Friday, scoring gains over most of its major counterparts, after weak consumer sentiment data prompted investors to shun riskier assets such as equities.

The dollar also found support from the recently released minutes from the Federal Reserve's most recent policy meeting that said policymakers were in no rush to ease policy amid ongoing economic uncertainty.

A report from the University of Michigan showed consumer sentiment in the U.S. deteriorated by much more than previously estimated in the month of February.

The report said the consumer sentiment index for February was downwardly revised to 64.7 from a preliminary reading of 67.8. Economists had expected the index to be unrevised.

With the unexpected downward revision, the consumer sentiment index is well below the January reading of 71.7, tumbling to its lowest level since hitting 61.3 in November 2023.

The substantial deterioration by consumer sentiment came amid a surge by year-ahead inflation expectations, which spiked to 4.3% in February from 3.3% in January, reaching the highest level since November 2023.

Long-run inflation expectations also rose to 3.5% in February from 3.2% in January, reflecting the largest month-over-month increase since May 2021.

Existing home sales pulled back sharply in the month of January, according to a report released by the National Association of Realtors.

NAR said existing home sales plunged by 4.9% to an annual rate of 4.08 million in January after surging by 2.9% to an upwardly revised rate of 4.29 million in December.

The dollar index, which climbed to 106.75 eased slightly to 106.65, but remained well placed above the flat line, gaining more than 0.25%.

Against the Euro, the dollar firmed to 1.0462 from 1.0503. Against Pound Sterling, the dollar strengthened to 1.2631, gaining from 1.2669 a unit of the British currency.

The dollar weakened against the Japanese currency, dropping to 149.32 yen, from 149.63 yen. Against the Aussie, the dollar firmed to 0.6357 from 0.6401.

The Swiss franc firmed to 0.8979 a unit of dollar, while the Loonie weakened to 1.4227 against the greenback.