WASHINGTON (dpa-AFX) - The U.S. dollar turned in a mixed performance against its major counterparts on Friday, with traders weighing the latest batch of economic data from across the and comments from Fed officials.
After initial weakness, the dollar rallied today, and was up firmly for a while early on in the U.S. session, fell into the negative zone around mid afternoon, amid expectations the Federal Reserve will slow the pace of interest rate hikes.
In U.S. economic news, the National Association of Realtors released a report showing a continued decline in U.S. existing home sales in the month of December, although the decrease was much smaller than economists had expected.
NAR said existing home sales slumped by 1.5% to an annual rate of 4.02 million in December after plunging by 7.9% to a revised rate of 4.08 million in November.
Economists had expected existing home sales to tumble by 3.4% to an annual rate of 3.95 million from the 4.09 million originally reported for the previous month.
Speaking at an event, Federal Reserve Bank of New York President John Williams emphasized on Thursday there is 'more work to do' to bring inflation down to the central bank's 2% target.
'Restoring price stability is essential to achieving maximum employment and stable prices over the longer term, and it is critical that we stay the course until the job is done,' he was quoted as saying.
The dollar index, which climbed to 102.55, was last seen at 101.99, down marginally from the previous close.
Against the Euro, the dollar weakened to 1.0860 from 1.0833. The dollar is weak against Pound Sterling at 1.2404, down marginally from the previous close, after having firmed to 1.2335 in the European session.
Against the Japanese currency, the dollar firmed to 129.56 yen, climbing from 128.43 yen.
The dollar has weakened to 0.6971 against the Aussie, down nearly 1% from the previous close. Against Swiss franc, the dollar is stronger at CHF 0.9200, gaining from CHF 0.9162, while against the Loonie, it is weak at C$ 1.3382, down 0.65% from Thursday's close.
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