WASHINGTON (dpa-AFX) - The U.S. dollar traded firm against most of its major counterparts on Friday, rebounding well after recent losses.
A surge in bond yields following a bigger than expected increase in consumer prices in the U.S. and China pushed up the dollar.
Producer prices in the U.S. jumped by much more than expected in the month of March, according to a report released by the Labor Department on Friday.
The Labor Department said its producer price index for final demand surged up by 1% in March after climbing by 0.5% in February. Economists had expected another 0.5% increase.
The bigger than expected advance in producer prices reflected another spike in energy prices, which soared by 5.9% in March after skyrocketing by 6% in February.
The dollar index advanced to 92.41 earlier in the day but pared a substantial portion of its gains as the session progressed. The index was last seen at 92.16, up 0.11% from previous close.
Against the Euro, the dollar firmed up to $1.1868 before easing to $1.1903, but still stayed positive, netting a gain of about 0.13%.
The Pound Sterling was weaker against the dollar, fetching $1.3706 a unit, about 0.22% less than Thursday's close of $1.3736.
The Yen weakened to 109.66 a dollar, sliding from 109.27.
The Aussie was down more than 0.4% against the dollar, with the AUD-USD moving to 0.7621 from 0.7663.
The Swiss franc was little changed against the dollar at 0.9244. Switzerland's jobless rate decreased in March, data from the State Secretariat for Economic Affairs showed. The jobless rate fell a seasonally to 3.4% in March from 3.6% in February. Economists had expected a rate of 3.6%.
Against the Loonie, the dollar was weaker, fetching C$1.2531 a unit, as against C$1.2562 on Thursday. Data released by Statistics Canada showed employment in Canada increased by 303,100 in March. The unemployment rate dropped to 7.5%, after coming in at 8.2% a month earlier. Economists had expected the unemployment rate to be 8% in March.
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