WASHINGTON (dpa-AFX) - The U.S. dollar turned in a sluggish performance on Friday with updates on the stimulus front, retail sales data, surging coronavirus cases and cautious moves by traders ahead of the upcoming elections all playing a role in its movements.
A report from the Commerce Department said retail sales spiked by 1.9% in September after rising by 0.6% in August. Economists had expected retail sales to climb by 0.7%.
Closely watched core retail sales, which exclude automobiles, gasoline, building materials and food services, jumped by 1.4% in September after dipping by 0.3% in August.
The University of Michigan released a report showing a bigger than expected improvement in consumer sentiment in the month of October. The report said the consumer sentiment index rose to 81.2 in October from the final September reading of 80.4. Economists had expected the index to inch up to 80.5.
On the stimulus front, U.S. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell rejected the push for a larger coronavirus stimulus deal, hours after President Trump told FOX Business he was willing to raise his spending offer above the White House's current $1.8 trillion proposal.
The dollar index, which fell to 93.53 in early U.S. session, recovered to 93.72, but was still down by about 0.15% from previous close.
Against the Euro, the dollar was down marginally at 1.1720
Against Pound Sterling, it was down slightly at 1.2913
The Yen, which moved in a tight band between 1015.19 and 105.49 a dollar, was last seen at 105.40, compared to Thursday's close of 105.45 a dollar.
The Aussie was down 0.23% with the AUD/USD pair trading at 0.7078
The Swiss franc was little changed at 0.9150 a dollar, while the Loonie was at 1.3189 a dollar, down 0.25% from 1.3221 on Thursday.
On the Covid-19 front, new coronavirus infections are surging rapidly in Europe, with several countries seeing steep spikes in new cases.
London will enter a tighter Covid-19 lockdown beginning at midnight today, while a nighttime curfew will take effect in some French cities starting Saturday.
The daily rise in infections surged past 7,000 for the first time ever in Germany, smashing the previous record set just the day before.
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