On Monday, August 16, the USD climbed but it lingered near a one-week low as the recently released consumer sentiment data fluctuated.
The USD Index, which trails the greenback in opposition to its six other rival currencies, inched up 0.07% to 92.578.
Last week, the USD followed the flow of bright economic data alongside the jobs market recovery which pushed it to a four-month high.
Also, the net dollar’s long positions spiked to the highest level since May 2020 last week which ended on August 10. However, it started to sink due to the cooling pressures on inflation.
On August 13, the University of Michigan released the US confidence poll which showed that consumer sentiment dropped to its lowest level since 2011.
The Michigan consumer sentiment came at 70.2 which is lower than the analyst forecast and previous record of 81.2.
Additionally, the Michigan consumer expectations slid 65.2 from the 85.0 analyst estimate and previously recorded 79.0.
An economist stated that the fluctuations were due to the spread of COVID-19 in the United States.
This led to some states and cities reinforcing their citizens to wear masks and follow strict health protocols.
On another note, investors are waiting for the Federal Reserve’s next decision regarding interest rate hikes and tapering of assets.
Next Tuesday, Fed Chair Jerome Powell will give a speech at a virtual town hall conference together with students and educators.
A day later, on Wednesday, the central bank’s latest policy meeting minutes will be released.
Moreover, Several analysts and investors are eyeing the Fed’s annual meeting in Jackson Hole, Wyoming later this month to get hints for its next move.
Currency Exchange Rates over USD
Furthermore, USD/JPY and EUR/USD both fell 0.17% to 109.40 and 0.08% to 1.1783, respectively.
The same with the USD/CHF and the SEK/USD which also plummeted 0.18% to 0.9138 and 0.21% to 0.1154, respectively.
Consequently, the GBP/USD declined 0.040% to 1.3859 while the USD/CAD grew 0.22% to 1.2542.
Meanwhile, the risk-sensitive AUD/USD plunged 0.43% to 0.7338. The Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) will release the minutes of its last meeting on Tuesday.
Also, the NXD/USD dropped 0.02% to 0.7036. The Reserve Bank of New Zealand (RBNZ) will hand its policy decision on Wednesday.
In addition, the USD/CNY slipped 0.04% to 6.4743. The industrial production of China increased 6.40% year-on-year (YoY) and the retail sales inched up 8.50% YoY, both in July.
