Poor US Retail Sales Figures Hit USD, AUD Hits 4 Month High
May 14, 2015 5:49 am
The U.S. dollar was broadly lower on Thursday after poor U.S. retail sales figures proved a huge disappointment to those expecting a strong American economic rebound from a weather-weakened first quarter. Wall Street’s major indices gave up early gains to end Wednesday’s session little changed as some investors stood on the sidelines waiting for the next round of economic data at the tail end of earnings season. The Dow lost 7 points to close at 18,060, the SP500 fell 0.6 points to close 2,098.
Against the Yen, the greenback slid to a two-week trough of 119.03, while the Euro came within a whisker of a two-month peak of $1.1392 set last week; it last stood at $1.1362. Sterling edged up 0.1% to $1.5758, having set a five-month high of $1.5768 on Wednesday even after the Bank of England cut its growth forecasts and cautiously backed bets in financial markets that it will only start to raise interest rates in around a year’s time. With the Greenback losing steam, the Australian Dollar hit a four-month high of $0.8164 earlier on Thursday and last traded at $0.8127, up 0.2% on the day. The Kiwi was up at $0.7529 , a dramatic turnaround from a two-month trough of $0.7318 hit earlier in the week.
U.S. crude futures were off 19 cents at $60.31 a barrel, while Brent lost 16 cents to $66.65.
Within the equity space, ITV reported net advertising revenue ahead of guidance for the first quarter, as its staff staged a 24-hour strike over pay with a protest at the broadcaster’s annual shareholder meeting. Although ITV’s share of viewing continued to be down, total revenue in the three months to end March was up 14% as its production business returned to organic growth . The stock is down 1.5% in early trade at 255p per share.
The U.S. dollar was broadly lower on Thursday after poor U.S. retail sales figures proved a huge disappointment to those expecting a strong American economic rebound from a weather-weakened first quarter. Wall Street’s major indices gave up early gains to end Wednesday’s session little changed as some investors stood on the sidelines waiting for the next round of economic data at the tail end of earnings season. The Dow lost 7 points to close at 18,060, the SP500 fell 0.6 points to close 2,098.
Against the Yen, the greenback slid to a two-week trough of 119.03, while the Euro came within a whisker of a two-month peak of $1.1392 set last week; it last stood at $1.1362. Sterling edged up 0.1% to $1.5758, having set a five-month high of $1.5768 on Wednesday even after the Bank of England cut its growth forecasts and cautiously backed bets in financial markets that it will only start to raise interest rates in around a year’s time. With the Greenback losing steam, the Australian Dollar hit a four-month high of $0.8164 earlier on Thursday and last traded at $0.8127, up 0.2% on the day. The Kiwi was up at $0.7529 , a dramatic turnaround from a two-month trough of $0.7318 hit earlier in the week.
U.S. crude futures were off 19 cents at $60.31 a barrel, while Brent lost 16 cents to $66.65.
Within the equity space, ITV reported net advertising revenue ahead of guidance for the first quarter, as its staff staged a 24-hour strike over pay with a protest at the broadcaster’s annual shareholder meeting. Although ITV’s share of viewing continued to be down, total revenue in the three months to end March was up 14% as its production business returned to organic growth . The stock is down 1.5% in early trade at 255p per share.
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