Forex Today: US Dollar strength continues amid resilient American economy

Valeria Bednarik FXStreet

What you need to take care of on Thursday, February 16:

The US Dollar remained strong on Wednesday, with demand for the Greenback easing ahead of Wall Street's close as stocks bounced from their intraday lows.

The Greenback benefited from renewed concerns about the continued US Federal Reserve's monetary tightening spurring risk aversion. As American inflation eased just modestly in January, hopes for a Fed's pivot faded. The United States published Retail Sales on Wednesday, which surged by 3% MoM in January, much better than anticipated. The figure provided fresh impetus to the USD and kept stock markets on the back foot.

Earlier in the day, the UK reported that the annual CPI rose by 10.1% in January, easing from 10.5% in December, while core CPI was up 5.8% on a yearly basis from 6.3% previously. Easing inflation supports the case of an easIER path of tightening in the kingdom. GBP/USD is down to 1.2020.

European data missed expectations adding pressure on the Euro. Industrial Production contracted 1.7% YoY in December, while the Trade Balance in the same month posted a deficit of €18.1 billion. EUR/USD bottomed at 1.0660, now trading in the 1.0680 region

The AUD/USD pair fell to 0.6864 but recovered the 0.6900 threshold ahead of the close amid the stocks' bounce. Australian employment figures and inflation expectations coming up early Thursday.

USD/CAD trades at 1.3390, with the Canadian dollar benefiting from a crude oil prices comeback. WTI trades at $78.60 a barrel after falling to $77.25. The EIA reported a large build in US stocks, up to 16.283 million barrels in the week ended February 10.

USD/JPY trades at 134.15, sharply up in the day. Higher US government bond yields provided support alongside comments from Japan's Prime Minister Kishida earlier in the day. Kishida said that he expects the new Bank of Japan (BoJ) governor to keep the appropriate monetary policy, taking into account of economy, inflation and market situations.

Gold extended its February slide to $1,830.53 a troy ounce, now hovering around $1,836.

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Author

Valeria Bednarik

FXStreet

Valeria Bednarik was born and lives in Buenos Aires, Argentina. Her passion for math and numbers pushed her into studying economics in her younger years.

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