US dollar down on negative economic data

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The US dollar was down on Tuesday after the release of several dollar-negative economic reports.

Among the bad news was a report showing that the sales of existing homes in the United States were down by 2.8 percent in January, the lowest figure in nearly two years. Also, the Chicago purchasing managers’ index was down from 58.5 in January to 54.9 in February as new orders were down significantly. Third, the Conference Board’s index of consumer confidence in the US was at 101.7 in February, lower than the 104 that had been predicted.

Reaction to these reports combined to send the US dollar down 0.6 percent to $1.1922 in relation to the euro. The greenback lost 0.8 percent against sterling, to $1.7540. It also fell 0.3 percent to C$1.1377 versus the Canadian dollar, a new 14-year low. Additionally, the US dollar fell 0.3 percent to ¥115.86 in relation to the Japanese yen.

The yen was down by 0.3 percent to ¥138.13 against the euro. In addition, the yen lost 0.6 percent to ¥203.22 versus sterling and 0.5 percent to ¥86.05 in relation to the Australian dollar. Hurting the yen was slowing industrial output in January, as well as January retail sales that were down 0.2 percent from the same month last year.