LONDON, (Reuters) – The dollar steadied against major currencies on Monday as traders waited for more data on the U.S. economy, after a disappointing jobs report last week ended a rally in the greenback.
The euro was little changed against the dollar, after data showed German industry avoided a contraction in December. Despite coronavirus lockdowns at home and abroad, demand from China helped export-oriented manufacturers in Europe’s largest economy weather the COVID-19 pandemic.
Speculators have been reducing short positions in the dollar, but some analysts say better U.S. economic data and continued progress in fighting the COVID-19 pandemic will be needed for further dollar gains.
“Although much of the optimism towards U.S. macro is probably well founded, it is less apparent this will come to the data …,” said Kristoffer Kjær Lomholt, chief analyst, FX and rates strategy at Danske Bank.
“Indeed, the U.S. jobs recovery has more or less stalled, and that did leave some space to take EUR/USD higher. The next big theme that may be priced further in to spot is moving ahead with U.S. fiscal talks.”
Against the euro, the dollar traded 0.1% higher at $1.2032 after a 0.7% slump on Friday. Due today is Sentix’s euro zone investor sentiment index for February due at 0930 GMT.
In a note to clients, J.P. Morgan strategists said they “have growing confidence of underperformance of EUR vs USD.”
“That warrants two changes to the portfolio: 1) rotating away from USD to fund trades primarily out of EUR, and 2) selling EUR/USD outright in spot.”
Graphic: Euro zone investor sentiment on the uptick, https://fingfx.thomsonreuters.com/gfx/mkt/rlgvdemlwpo/Pasted%20image%201612774128948.png
The British pound bought $1.3715, 0.15% lower to the dollar.
The dollar was quoted at 105.57 yen, having pulled back from a three-month high reached on Friday.
The U.S. economy created fewer jobs than expected in January and job losses the previous month were greater than initially reported, data at the end of last week showed.
U.S. consumer prices and consumer sentiment reports later this week will help determine whether a recent rise in inflation expectations and Treasury yields was justified.
Any disappointing numbers from either report could knock the dollar lower, some analysts said. Investors are also closely monitoring a U.S. debate on additional fiscal stimulus.
President Joe Biden and his Democrats are pushing ahead with $1.9 trillion COVID-19 relief package. House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi has predicted the final relief legislation could pass Congress before March 15.
The dollar index against a basket of six major currencies stood at 91.130, after falling 0.6% on Friday.
Speculators’ net bearish bets on the dollar fell to $29.95 billion for the week ended Feb. 2, compared with a net short position of $33.81 billion for the previous week, according to calculations by Reuters and U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission data.
In the cryptocurrency market, ethereum spot prices rose 1.6% to $1,642 after the listing of ethereum futures on the Chicago Mercantile Exchange on Sunday.
Bitcoin, the world’s biggest cryptocurrency by market capitalisation, rose 1% to $39,244.
The onshore yuan edged up to 6.4569 per dollar, but trade is likely to be subdued before the week-long Chinese New Year holidays beginning Thursday.
Elsewhere, the Australian dollar was off 0.15% at $0.7665. Across the Tasman Sea, the New Zealand dollar traded flat at $0.7192.
(Reporting by Ritvik Carvalho; additional reporting by Stanley White in Tokyo; editing by Larry King)
TORONTO – Strength in the base metal and technology sectors helped Canada’s main stock index gain almost 100 points on Friday, while U.S. stock markets also climbed higher.
The S&P/TSX composite index closed up 93.51 points at 23,568.65.
In New York, the Dow Jones industrial average was up 297.01 points at 41,393.78. The S&P 500 index was up 30.26 points at 5,626.02, while the Nasdaq composite was up 114.30 points at 17,683.98.
The Canadian dollar traded for 73.61 cents US compared with 73.58 cents US on Thursday.
The October crude oil contract was down 32 cents at US$68.65 per barrel and the October natural gas contract was down five cents at US$2.31 per mmBTU.
The December gold contract was up US$30.10 at US$2,610.70 an ounce and the December copper contract was up four cents US$4.24 a pound.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 13, 2024.
OTTAWA – Statistics Canada says wholesale sales, excluding petroleum, petroleum products, and other hydrocarbons and excluding oilseed and grain, rose 0.4 per cent to $82.7 billion in July.
The increase came as sales in the miscellaneous subsector gained three per cent to reach $10.5 billion in July, helped by strength in the agriculture supplies industry group, which rose 9.2 per cent.
The food, beverage and tobacco subsector added 1.7 per cent to total $15 billion in July.
The personal and household goods subsector fell 2.5 per cent to $12.1 billion.
In volume terms, overall wholesale sales rose 0.5 per cent in July.
Statistics Canada started including oilseed and grain as well as the petroleum and petroleum products subsector as part of wholesale trade last year, but is excluding the data from monthly analysis until there is enough historical data.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 13, 2024.
TORONTO – Canada’s main stock index was up more than 150 points in late-morning trading, helped by strength in the base metal and energy sectors, while U.S. stock markets were mixed.
The S&P/TSX composite index was up 172.18 points at 23,383.35.
In New York, the Dow Jones industrial average was down 34.99 points at 40,826.72. The S&P 500 index was up 10.56 points at 5,564.69, while the Nasdaq composite was up 74.84 points at 17,470.37.
The Canadian dollar traded for 73.55 cents US compared with 73.59 cents US on Wednesday.
The October crude oil contract was up $2.00 at US$69.31 per barrel and the October natural gas contract was up five cents at US$2.32 per mmBTU.
The December gold contract was up US$40.00 at US$2,582.40 an ounce and the December copper contract was up six cents at US$4.20 a pound.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 12, 2024.
