NEW YORK: The US dollar advanced on Friday, bolstered by solid economic data that suggested the Federal Reserve was justified in taking a patient approach to cutting interest rates, while tariff negotiations showed more clarity.
“The dollar regained some ground the past two days, after being on the defensive earlier in the week ... supported mostly by an encouraging set of US economic data that argues for continued patience at the Fed,” said Elias Haddad, senior markets strategist at Brown Brothers Harriman in London.
The US currency, however, showed little reaction to data showing new orders for key US-manufactured capital goods unexpectedly fell in June while shipments of those products increased moderately. That suggested business spending on equipment slowed considerably in the second quarter.
The greenback was set for its biggest weekly drop in a month, ahead of more tariff dialogue and central bank meetings next week, while sterling dipped after softer-than-expected British retail sales data.
Both the Fed and the Bank of Japan are expected to hold rates steady at next week’s policy meetings, but traders are focusing on the subsequent comments to gauge the timing of the next moves. Politics is a factor for both central banks, most dramatically in the US, where President Donald Trump once again pressed for lower interest rates on Thursday as he locked horns with Fed Chair Jerome Powell.
Brown Brothers’ Haddad said the Fed’s monetary policy is being “overshadowed by the political pressure to lower interest rates. That’s one of the reasons why I think the dollar’s upside is limited.”
The dollar managed to recover a touch against the euro late on Thursday, however, after Trump said he did not intend to fire Powell, as he has frequently suggested he could.
“The market relief was based on the fact that Trump refrained from calling for Powell to go, although that was based on Trump’s view that Powell would ‘do the right thing’,” said Derek Halpenny, head of EMEA research at MUFG.
He added, however, that “the theme of Fed independence being undermined by the White House will unlikely go away and remains a downside risk for the dollar.”
Falls against the euro and yen leave the dollar index, which measures the dollar against six other currencies, at 97.45, on track for a drop of 0.75% this week, its weakest performance in a month, though it bounced back 0.3% on Friday.
Meanwhile, in Japan, though the trade deal signed with the US this week could make it easier for the BOJ to continue rate hikes, the bruising loss for Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba’s coalition in upper house elections on Sunday complicates life for the BOJ.
The yen was softer, thanks in part to below-expectations Tokyo inflation data, with the dollar last up 0.5% at 147.66 yen, though on course for a weekly 0.7% fall.
The euro was down 0.2% at $1.1728 but set for a weekly gain of 0.8%.
The pound was last down 0.6% on the dollar at $1.3434.
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