The US dollar rose against a basket of currencies on Friday, rebounding from a near one-and-a-half month low, as upbeat US economic data and higher US Department of the Treasury yields rekindled some investor appetite for the greenback.
The world’s top reserve currency was still on track for a weekly loss as reduced trade tensions between China and the US, together with encouraging developments between Britain and the EU on terms for Britain’s exit from the economic bloc, pared safe-haven demand for the US dollar. “Generally today’s data showed strong results, which are supporting the US dollar. Higher yields are also giving it a boost,” said Brian Daingerfield, macro strategist at NatWest Securities in Stamford, Connecticut.
The US Department of Commerce said domestic retail sales rose 0.1 percent in August, the smallest gain in six months, but July figures were revised higher, supporting the view of solid consumer spending in the third quarter.
Consumer spending, which accounts for two-thirds of the US economy, would likely hold firm as consumer optimism improved to its strongest since March, the University of Michigan said.
Another bright spot was a 0.4 percent increase in US industrial output last month.
Friday’s data offset inflation data this week which fell off expectations, causing traders to dial back their bets that inflation is accelerating, analysts said. The data also lifted Treasury yields, with the 10-year yield touching 3 percent for the first time in six weeks.
At 10:58am, an index that tracks the US dollar against six major currencies was up 0.25 percent at 94.753, trimming its weekly decline to 0.6 percent.
In Taipei, the New Taiwan dollar rose against the US dollar, gaining NT$0.045 to close at NT$30.760, up 0.05 percent from last week’s NT$30.776.
The euro climbed to a two-week high earlier on Friday following the disappointing US inflation data before retreating against the greenback. The common currency was down 0.2 percent at US$1.16665, EBS data showed.
Sterling was 0.25 percent lower at US$1.3073 after hitting US $1.3145 earlier on Friday, its highest level since July 31, Reuters data showed.
China’s offshore yuan slipped 0.27 percent to 6.8641 per US dollar.
Among the rows of vibrators, rubber torsos and leather harnesses at a Chinese sex toys exhibition in Shanghai this weekend, the beginnings of an artificial intelligence (AI)-driven shift in the industry quietly pulsed. China manufactures about 70 percent of the world’s sex toys, most of it the “hardware” on display at the fair — whether that be technicolor tentacled dildos or hyper-realistic personalized silicone dolls. Yet smart toys have been rising in popularity for some time. Many major European and US brands already offer tech-enhanced products that can enable long-distance love, monitor well-being and even bring people one step closer to
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