US dollar weakens on retail sales data

US dollar weakens on retail sales data

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The US dollar was weaker on Tuesday after new data showed that retail sales were up by just 0.1 percent in February, against expectations that sales would grow by 0.3 percent. While some analysts said that it wasn�t wise to read too much into the numbers, but others were not convinced that the slow sales were due simply to cold weather. The greenback was 0.1 percent lower versus sterling in mid-afternoon trade in New York, to $1.9340, while it fell 0.3 percent to $1.3210 against the euro and dropped 0.6 percent to �116.90 in relation to the yen.

The yen, in turn, strengthened versus the euro and sterling. It added 0.6 percent to �225.90 against sterling, while it gained 0.7 percent to �154.10 versus the euro. The yen was also higher in relation to the New Zealand dollar, by 0.9 percent to �81.05. The Australian dollar also lost ground to the yen, falling 0.7 percent to �91.75.

The euro was 0.2 percent higher versus sterling, to �0.6835 after the ZEW investor confidence survey had better than expected news in German. Sterling was weaker even though new data showed that its trade deficit was smaller in January than had been expected.