US Dollar weakness continues ahead of inflation data
The US Dollar (USD) struggles to find demand early Friday, with the USD Index staying in negative territory below 97.50 after posting losses for four consecutive days.
In the second half of the day, the US Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA) will release the Personal Consumption Expenditures (PCE) Price Index data, the Federal Reserve's (Fed) preferred gauge of inflation, for May.
The risk-positive market atmosphere and mixed macroeconomic data releases from the US caused the USD to continue to weaken against its rivals on Thursday. The BEA reported that the US' Gross Domestic Product (GDP) contracted at an annual rate of 0.5% in the first quarter, compared to the market expectation and the previous estimate of -0.2%. On a positive note, Durable Goods Orders rose at a stronger pace than forecast in May, while the weekly Initial Jobless Claims declined to 236,000 from 245,000 in the previous week. Reflecting the upbeat mood, Wall Street's main indexes gained about 1% on Thursday. In the European session on Friday, US stock index futures trade marginally higher.
The data from Japan showed in the Asian session that the Tokyo Consumer Price Index rose 3.1% on a yearly basis in June, down from the 3.4% increase recorded in May. After falling more than 0.5% on Thursday, USD/JPY fluctuates in a tight channel at around 144.50 on Friday.
Source: Fxstreet
