Dollar Gains as Retail Sales Rise Most in 8 Months; Yen Declines 

The dollar rose for the first time in four days as a report showed retail sales climbed the most in eight months in November, indicating a strengthening U.S. economic recovery amid sluggish global growth.

The greenback gained versus most major peers as the number of Americans filing for unemployment benefits dipped to a three-week low before the Federal Reserve meets on policy next week. The yen fell for the first time in four days on speculation Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s Liberal Democratic Party will win re-election this weekend and extend measures that have weighed on the currency. Norway’s krone dropped through 9 per euro for the first time since 2009 on an unexpected interest-rate cut. Russia’s ruble plunged to a record.

“As long as data continue to show wage gains and broad improvement in the jobs market, they want to begin rate normalization ever so slowly and patiently,” said Quincy Krosby, a market strategist based in Newark, New Jersey, at Prudential Financial Inc., which oversees $1 trillion in assets. Fed Chair Janet Yellen “is going to lay the groundwork” for the first rate increase.

The Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index, which tracks the U.S. currency against those of 10 trading partners, rose 0.3 percent to 1,114.96 at 8:58 a.m. New York time, after falling to 1,108.21, the lowest since Dec. 2.

The 0.7 percent gain in retail purchases matched the highest estimate of economists surveyed by Bloomberg and followed a 0.5 percent advance in October that was larger than previously reported, Commerce Department figures showed today in Washington. Demand improved in 11 of 13 major store categories.

Jobless claims decreased by 3,000 to 294,000 in the week ended Dec. 6. The median forecast in a Bloomberg survey of economists called for first-time applications to hold at the prior week’s 297,000. Claims have been below 300,000 for 12 of the past 13 weeks.

 

Source: Bloomberg – Dollar Gains as Retail Sales Rise Most in 8 Months; Yen Declines

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