U.S. Dollar Advances As U.S.-Iran Impasse Renews War Concerns Amid PPI Data Release

(RTTNews) - The U.S. Dollar value inched higher amid stalled U.S.-Iran peace talks keeping the Strait of Hormuz shut for oil trade while economists parsed the U.S. producer price data releases.

The U.S. Dollar Index, DXY, which measures the Greenback against a basket of other major currencies was last seen trading at 98.48, up by 0.16 (or 0.16%) today.

Against the Euro, USD was trading at 1.171, up by 0.22%.

According to Eurostat, industrial production in the Euro area decreased 2.10% in March over the same month in the previous year. On a month-on-month basis, it increased 0.20% in March.

Against the GBP, it was trading at 1.352, up by 0.10%.

Against the USD, the Japanese Yen was trading at 157.872, down by 0.16%; the Swiss Franc was trading at 0.781, down by 0.16%; and the Canadian Dollar was trading at 1.370, down by 0.08%.

Against one unit of Australian Dollar, USD was trading at 0.726, down by 0.23%.

U.S. President Donald Trump is in China with a heavy contingent of U.S. business leaders including Elon Musk and Jensen Huang for a summit with Chinese President Xi Jinping to discuss bilateral trade and various other issues including the gulf crisis.

Prior to leaving for China yesterday, Trump stated that the U.S. does not need China's help to end the war with Iran.

Trump further asserted that the U.S. can end the war either through diplomatic measures or otherwise, indicating the possibility of a military offensive.

Earlier CNN reported that frustrated by Iran's inadequate response to peace proposals sent by the U.S., Trump was planning to restart the military campaign against Iran.

Today, citing officials from the White House, NBS News reported that the Pentagon is preparing to rename the military campaign against Iran as "Operation Sledgehammer" from "Operation Epic Fury", indicating the possibility of an expansive and fiercer attack by the U.S.

Iran had warned that it is ready to combat any U.S. aggression.

These developments have renewed war threat and added to inflationary concerns.

Experts are awaiting a breather in the form of Chinese intervention to end the hostilities between the U.S. and Iran during Trump's current trip.

A China Cosco Shipping supertanker managed to cross the Strait of Hormuz with Iran's permission.

Trump wants to expand trade ties with China, and the U.S. is in need of crucial rare earth minerals from China to the U.S. technology and automotive industries.

China has longstanding friendly ties with Iran and is the primary beneficiary of Iranian oil exports.

Hence, a Chinese mediation could be more successful than previous attempts by other nations in bringing a reconciliation between the warring nations.

In the U.S., the Senate voted to confirm Kevin Warsh as the next Chair of the Federal Reserve.

The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics data revealed that producer prices soared 1.40% month-over-month in April, following an upwardly revised 0.70% gain in March, well above forecasts of 0.50%.

The core producer prices (excluding food and energy) rose by 1.00% over a month earlier in April, following an upwardly revised 0.20% increase in March and well above market forecasts of an increase of 0.30%.

Year-over-year, core producer price (excluding foods and energy) accelerated to 5.20% in April, up from an upwardly revised 4.00% in March, exceeding market expectations of 4.30%.

The Producer Prices Index, increased to 156.50 in April from 154.37 in March.

Year-over-year, the index accelerated to 6.00% in April, up from an upwardly revised 4.30% in March, exceeding market expectations of 4.90%.