Dollar Loses Ground Against Major Counterparts
(RTTNews) - The U.S. dollar shed ground against its major counterparts on Friday with traders taking some profits, cashing in recent gains, as they looked ahead to the inflation data, due next week.
In economic news today, a report released by the Commerce Department showed wholesale inventories in the U.S. increased by less than expected in the month of July.
The report showed wholesale inventories rose by 0.6% in July after surging by 1.8% in June. Economists had expected wholesale inventories to climb by 0.8%.
The smaller than expected advance in wholesale inventories came as a 1% jump in inventories of durable goods was partly offset by a 0.1% dip in inventories of non-durable goods.
Meanwhile, the Commerce Department said wholesale sales tumbled by 1.4% in July after leaping by 1.6% in June.
The dollar index, which surged to a fresh 20-year high at 110.79 earlier in the week, dropped to a low of 108.36 in the Asian session today, before recovering to 108.98, still down as much as 0.66% from the previous close.
Against the Euro, the dollar weakened to 1.0044, from 0.9997.
The dollar is trading at 1.1584 against Pound Sterling, losing ground from 1.1504.
Against the Japanese currency, the dollar has weakened to 142.66 yen, from 144.11 yen on Thursday.
The Aussie is stronger against the dollar with the AUD/USD pair at 0.6841, after closing at 0.6751 on the previous session.
The dollar is weak against Swiss franc at CHF 0.9604, down from CHF 0.9703. Against the Loonie, the dollar has slipped to C$ 1.3026, down by about 0.51%, as oil prices rallied sharply for a second straight session.