USD rallies while yen stronger

Story link: USD rallies while yen stronger

The US dollar rallied a bit on Monday, gaining value in relation to the euro and the Swiss franc, but it lost some ground to the yen.

The dollar gained 0.5 percent to $1.2375 by mid-day on Monday and it was up 0.5 percent as well against the Swiss franc, to SFr1.2536. It was down fractionally, however, against the yen to ¥109.36.

Capital inflows were up in the US, at $71.2 billion, well ahead of the expected $65 billion and enough to cover the June trade deficit, which at $58.8 billion was bigger than had been expected.

However, most of that inflow from foreign investors went into corporate bonds and very little went to purchase Treasury bonds and demand for US equities was weak.

However, manufacturing in the state of New York stayed strong even though the Empire State index of manufacturing activity was a bit lower than the previous survey.

Meanwhile, sterling gained in relation to the euro but lost ground to the US dollar and the yen on news that slow retail sales in central London had dragged down sales figures in the UK as a whole.

Sterling was up by 0.3 percent to £0.6832 in relation to the euro, but it lost 0.4 percent to $1.808 against the US dollar and was down 0.4 percent in relation to the yen, to Y197.88.

The Chinese renminbi closed at its highest level in relation to the dollar since its revaluation a few weeks ago. It ended the day at $8.0971, up a fraction from its Friday close of $8.9080 as the People’s Bank of China let the renminbi appreciate slightly.