FX Roundup: Greenback in mixed fortunes following raft of data

The dollar saw mixed fortunes against major currency crosses on Wednesday, following the publication of a raft of macroeconomic data ahead of the US Thanksgiving Holiday stateside.

According to the Commerce Department, orders for US durable goods increased 3% last month, compared to forecasts for a 1.5% gain. September's 1.2% drop was revised to a 0.8% decrease.

Elsewhere, American consumer spending rose 0.1% month-on-month in October compared with a 0.1% increase in September and with analysts’ expectations for a 0.3% gain, while personal income rose 0.4% month-on-month in October in line with expectations and up from an upwardly revised 0.2% increase registered in September.

On a core level, which strips out food and energy, the personal consumption expenditure was flat, falling short of the 0.1% reading analysts had expected and lower than an upwardly revised 0.2% gain in the previous month.

In other US data releases, the Labor Department said new claims declined by 12,000 to 260,000 in the week to 21 November, compared with analysts' expectations for a 271,000 reading, while the average of new claims over the last four weeks were unchanged at a seasonally adjusted 271,000.

At 1620 GMT, the dollar was up against the yen by 0.26% changing hands at JPY122.85. Concurrently, the pound rose 0.05% against the dollar exchanging at $1.5091, while the euro fell 0.36% versus the greenback to change hands at $1.0605.

Continuing with major crosses, the greenback rose 0.62% against the Swiss franc exchanging at CHF1.0230, staying above parity in its favour during late European trading.

The greenback also traded higher against selected commodity-linked currencies, including the Norwegian Krone by 0.11% changing hands at NOK8.6575, alongside gains of 0.53%, 1.77% and 0.03% against the Chilean peso, Brazilian real and Canadian dollar, changing hands at CLP$714.47, BRL3.7647 and CAD$1.3307 respectively.

Finally, the Australian dollar fell against its US counterpart by 0.28% changing hands at US$0.7237, while the New Zealand dollar rose 0.06% against the greenback changing hands at US$0.6559.

Kit Juckes, head of forex at Societe Generale, said, “It's likely to be a quiet end to the week with a correction to the dollar rally, a bounce in commodities, and range-bound G3 currencies. It's noteworthy that the only material effect of the downing of a Russian plane by Turkey was a weaker Lira, and not the sharp yen bounce, or even CHF rally we might have seen in the past.”

“Among the outliers, Saudi Arabia and the UAE are going to see pressure on their currency pegs grow.”