The US dollar cut its losses against the euro, extended gains against the yen and reached an 11-year high against the Norwegian crown on plunging oil prices and stronger-than-expected US economic data on Friday. Oil prices fell to 5-1/2 year lows on concerns of a global glut, dampening inflation expectations. However, lower energy costs also increase the cash consumers have to spend heading into year-end holidays.
US consumer sentiment rose to an eight-year high in December, above economists' forecasts, according to the Thomson Reuters/University of Michigan survey. The gain was fuelled by improved prospects for jobs and wages, while inflation expectations rose as well, bolstering the case for the US Federal Reserve to raise interest rates next year. "The implication here is this leads to a stronger dollar," said Steven Englander, global head of G10 foreign exchange strategy at CitiFX.
-- Euro holds gains on greenback
Englander said interest rate forecasts were low and what the Fed really cares about is not shaky equity markets but job creation, while inflation expectations are not as wobbly as previously thought. "The fact that the Michigan inflation expectations bounced back is significant because it is the last pillar of the (Fed) doves, and even though we are not at full employment, we are approaching it fast," he said.
The Fed's two-day meeting next week ends with its interest rate decision, due on Wednesday. The US dollar index bounced from its session lows on the data, trading at 88.348, still off 0.35 percent on the day. The dollar erased early losses to trade up 0.04 percent at 118.70 yen.
"The data, especially the inflation component of the University of Michigan report, supports an incrementally more hawkish Fed and in this backdrop of softening growth in other major regions, an incrementally more hawkish Fed is positive for the dollar," said Brian Daingerfield, currency strategist at the Royal Bank of Scotland in Stamford, Connecticut. However, the euro maintained its lead on the greenback, trading off its highs for the day but still up 0.35 percent at $1.2453.
Norway's crown plunged the day after its central bank unexpectedly cut interest rates to boost growth as oil prices slid further. The dollar hit 7.3950 crowns on Friday, its strongest since September 2003, before slipping to 7.3672, up 1.10 percent on the day. Lower oil prices undermined the Canadian dollar. The greenback rose 0.42 percent to C$1.1568, just off a 5-1/2 year high of C$1.1591.
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