JABAR EKSPRES – The U.S. dollar rose against a basket of major peers in late trading Friday (6/30), drawing support from strong GDP readings and labor data, which gave the Federal Reserve a possible foothold to continue raising interest rates.
The dollar index, which measures the greenback against six major rivals, increased 0.42 percent to 103.3432 in late trade, climbing to a two-week high.
The US economy grew at an annualized pace of 2 percent in the first quarter, much better than the previous estimate of 1.3 percent, according to data released by the US Bureau of Economic Analysis on Thursday (6/29) morning.
Meanwhile, US weekly initial jobless claims last week fell by 26,000 claims to a seasonally adjusted 239,000, the biggest drop in 20 months and below expectations of 265,000 claims by economists polled by Reuters.
Read more: Modric and Lovren Allegedly Charged with Giving False Testimony
Following the report, the yield on 2-year US Treasury notes hit its highest level since March 8, rising 16 basis points to 4.882 percent. The yield on the 10-year US government bond rose 13.44 basis points and closed at 3.846 percent, the highest since early March.
Speaking at an event held by Spain’s central bank on Thursday (6/29), Federal Reserve Chairman Powell indicated that the Fed is likely to resume its path of interest rate hikes after a pause earlier this month.
In addition, Atlanta Federal Reserve President Raphael Bostic said on Thursday (6/29) that the Fed should raise interest rates if price growth moves away from the target, or inflation expectations start to move in a “difficult way”.
In late New York trading, the euro fell to 1.0867 US dollars from 1.0922 US dollars in the previous session, and the British pound fell to 1.2613 US dollars from 1.2648 US dollars in the previous session.
The US dollar bought 144.8870 Japanese yen, higher than 144.3170 Japanese yen in the previous session. The US dollar rose to 0.8999 Swiss francs from 0.8965 Swiss francs, and fell to 1.3243 Canadian dollars from 1.3254 Canadian dollars. The US dollar rose to 10.8615 Swedish krona from 10.7726 Swedish krona.
