With the publication of a series of data, the u.s. dollar gained ground on Friday after falling for two weeks.
The dollar index rose 0.14% to-97,095 at 13: 25.
The greenback has made a slight return after drifting Thursday on the news of the impeachment of the american president Donald Trump by the House of Representatives. Trump is the third president to be impeached in the history of the United States, but it is likely that it will survive a trial in the Senate led by the GOP, which is expected to vote in January.
The National Association of realtors reported that sales of existing homes had decreased by 1.7% compared to October, reaching an annual rate of 5.35 million in November. However, sales are up 2.7% year on year compared with 5,21 million of November 2018.
In addition, new data on employment showed continued strength in the labour market, initial claims for unemployment benefits from the State which fell from 18 000 to 234 000 for the week ended 14 December, said the Department of Labor. The reading has reached a summit in two years to 25 200 last week.
During this time, the Philadelphia federal Reserve released Thursday, a manufacturing index flat in December. The general index of current activity fell 10.1 points to 0.3 in December – it is his reading, the lowest in six months and well below expectations of economists to 8, according to a survey of Reuters. The index tracks manufacturing in Pennsylvania, New Jersey and Delaware.
“Manufacturing activity in the region has remained stable this month …,” said the federal reserve bank in a press release. “The general indicator of the survey for current activity fell to a reading of close to zero this month, although indicators for new orders, shipments, and employment remained at readings positive higher.”
“Activity indicators in the future of the survey remained positive, suggesting a constant optimism about the growth for the next six months,” he added.
The pair USD/JPY has lost 0.02% to 109,34.
