US dollar higher on positive data

Story link: US dollar higher on positive data

The US dollar was higher on Thursday as new data on existing home sales added more evidence that the US housing market is still strong. It had been expected that the sale of existing homes would fall slightly in February, but sales actually were up 2.5 percent in the month. New unemployment filings were also down for the week.

In response to these new figures, the dollar gained 0.8 percent to $1.1980 in relation to the euro, jumped 0.6 percent to ¥117.63 versus the yen, added 0.6 percent to $1.7362 against sterling, and was up 0.8 percent versus the Swiss franc, to SFr1.3161.

The Swiss franc, meanwhile, continued to lose value. It found a new two-year low versus the euro to SFr1.5788, and has lost 2.3 percent to the shared currency since January. It was also down in relation to sterling, losing 0.2 percent to SFr2.2845, and declined to ¥89.35 in relation to the Japanese currency.

Elsewhere, sterling gained 0.1 percent on the euro, to £0.6902, on the news that orders to UK manufacturers are up.

The New Zealand dollar was down versus the greenback again, but it lost only 0.4 percent to $0.6234 after the fourth quarter current account deficit was a bit less than had been predicted.