Dollar mixed vs. rivals after disappointing U.S. data

FTS Forex Trading:- The dollar remained lower against the euro and the yen on Thursday after a series of disappointing U.S. data releases dampened speculation over a possible near-term exit from the Federal Reserve’s asset purchase program.

During U.S. morning trade, the dollar edged lower against the yen, withUSD/JPY slipping 0.29% to 101.95, off session highs of 102.69.

The Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia said that its manufacturing index fell to minus 5.2 in May from April’s reading of 1.3. Analysts had expected the index to improve to a reading of 2.4 in May. 

The data came after the Department of Labor said number of people who filed for unemployment assistance in the U.S. rose by 32,000 to a seasonally adjusted 360,000 last week, compared to expectations for an increase of 2,000 to 330,000.

A separate report showed that consumer price inflation in the U.S. fell 0.4% in April, compared to expectations for a 0.2% decline, down for the second consecutive month.

Meanwhile, the Commerce Department said the number of building permits issued in the U.S. rose 14.3% to a seasonally adjusted 1.017 million in April, above expectations for a 3.8% increase to 0.973 million units.

However, U.S. housing starts fell by 16.5% last month to a seasonally adjusted 0.853 million, compared to expectations for a decline of 6.4% to 0.973 million.

Earlier Thursday, official data showed that Japan’s economy expanded by a larger than forecast 0.9% in the first quarter, indicating that Japan’s new monetary easing measures are bolstering consumer spending.

The euro rebounded from almost six-week lows against the dollar, withEUR/USD adding 0.23% to 1.2917.

In the euro zone, official data confirmed that consumer price inflation fell 0.1% in April from the previous month, with the annual rate of inflation slowing to 1.2% from 1.7% in March.

A separate report showed that the euro zone posted a record trade surplus in March as imports fell 1% from February, while exports grew 2.8%.

On Wednesday, data showed that the euro zone economy contracted by 0.2% in the three months to March bringing the annualized rate of decline to 0.9%.

The dollar was lower against the pound and the Swiss franc, withGBP/USD gaining 0.45% to 0.9600 and USD/CHF declining 0.52% to trade at 0.9597.

The greenback was higher against its Australian, New Zealand and Canadian counterparts, with AUD/USD retreating 0.44% to 0.9854,NZD/USD dropping 0.55% to 0.8194 and USD/CAD edging 0.06% higher to 1.0164.

The dollar index, which tracks the performance of the greenback versus a basket of six other major currencies, was down 0.30% to 83.65.