Dollar Rebounds After Improving Jobs, Housing Data

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The dollar gained on Thursday against a basket of currencies, erasing earlier losses, boosted by better jobs and housing data, and as U.S. Treasury yields rose.

NEW YORK: The dollar gained on Thursday against a basket of currencies, erasing earlier losses, boosted by better jobs and housing data, and as U.S. Treasury yields rose.

Data showed that the number of Americans filing new claims for unemployment benefits dropped to a 19-month low last week, pointing to a tightening labor market, though a shortage of workers could keep the pace of hiring moderate in October.

U.S. home sales also surged to an eight-month high in September, but higher prices as supply remains tight are squeezing first-time buyers out of the housing market.

“The dollar faded early in the session, though later found its footing on improved jobless claims and better existing home sales data,” said Ronald Simpson, managing director for global currency analysis at Action Economics.

The dollar index rose to 93.76, up 0.17% on the day, after earlier falling to 93.49. It had reached a one-year high of 94.56 last week on mounting bets that the Federal Reserve will need to raise interest rates sooner than previously expected to quell rising price pressures.

Fed Governor Christopher Waller said on Thursday that the U.S. central bank should let its $8 trillion balance sheet shrink over the next couple of years.

The dollar was also supported as benchmark 10-year U.S. Treasury yields rose to 1.683%, the highest since May 13.

Risk-sensitive currencies, including the Australian dollar, continued to weaken even as a rebound in stocks later in the day showed improving risk sentiment. [.N]

The Australian dollar, which is a proxy for risk appetite, fell 0.67% to $0.7465 after reaching $0.7547 overnight, the highest since July 6.

Commerzbank’s head of FICC technical analysis, Karen Jones, said in a report on Thursday that the Australian currency was likely to see profit taking as it reached its 55-week moving average at $0.7516.

The New Zealand dollar, which has been boosted since the country on Monday recorded the highest inflation reading in over a decade, also fell 0.67% to $0.77153, after rising to $0.7219 overnight, the highest since June 8.

The greenback dipped 0.34% against the safe-haven yen to 113.97. It had hit a four-year high of 114.67 against the Japanese currency on Wednesday.

Sterling slipped 0.29% to $1.3785 while the euro was down 0.23% at $1.1623.

Bitcoin was last at $65,193, after reaching a record high of $67,017 on Wednesday. Demand for the cryptocurrency has increased after the launch of the first U.S. bitcoin futures exchange-traded fund.

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Currency bid prices at 3:37PM (1937 GMT)

Description RIC Last U.S. Close Pct Change YTD Pct High Bid Low Bid

Previous Change

Session

Dollar index 93.7590 93.6140 +0.17% 4.199% +93.7850 +93.4940

Euro/Dollar $1.1623 $1.1650 -0.23% -4.87% +$1.1667 +$1.1623

Dollar/Yen 113.9650 114.2600 -0.34% +10.25% +114.4100 +113.6700

Euro/Yen 132.46 133.20 -0.56% +4.36% +133.3600 +132.2700

Dollar/Swiss 0.9182 0.9189 -0.08% +3.79% +0.9206 +0.9171

Sterling/Dollar $1.3785 $1.3823 -0.29% +0.89% +$1.3833 +$1.3776

Dollar/Canadian 1.2370 1.2316 +0.45% -2.84% +1.2383 +1.2289