NEW YORK, Dec. 20 (Xinhua) — The U.S. dollar firmed in late buying and selling on Wednesday, as U.S. client confidence elevated to a five-month excessive in December.
The dollar index, which measures the dollar in opposition to six main friends, rose 0.24 p.c to 102.4171 in late buying and selling.
The U.S. mortgage charges fell to beneath 7 p.c final week, information from the Mortgage Bankers’ Association indicated Wednesday, taking 30-year house borrowing prices to six.83 p.c, the bottom ranges since June amid the historic December bond market rally.
Sales of beforehand owned houses rose 0.8 p.c in November from the earlier month to an annual fee of three.82 million models, snapping a five-month shedding streak, based on new information launched Wednesday by the National Association of Realtors. It marked the slowest tempo of gross sales since August 2010.
Meanwhile, the Conference Board Consumer Confidence Index elevated in December to 110.7, up from a downwardly revised 101.0 in November. “The top issue affecting consumers remains rising prices in general, while politics, interest rates, and global conflicts all saw downticks as top concerns,” stated Dana Peterson, the chief economist on the Conference Board.
However, the U.S. dollar got here underneath strain from month-end rebalancing by traders. “Our proprietary month-end rebalancing model indicates a strong dollar selling signal by month-end against all majors,” Barclays strategists stated in a be aware on Wednesday.
In late New York buying and selling, the euro was all the way down to 1.0945 U.S. {dollars} from 1.0976 {dollars} within the earlier session, however the German client sentiment index rose to -25.1 factors heading into January from a revised -27.6 the month earlier than and above expectations.
British inflation fell from 4.6 p.c to three.9 p.c final month, the bottom for greater than two years, based on the Office for National Statistics on Wednesday. The British pound was all the way down to 1.2641 U.S. {dollars} from 1.2723 {dollars} within the earlier session.
The U.S. dollar purchased 143.8380 Japanese yen, decrease than 143.8940 Japanese yen of the earlier session. The U.S. dollar elevated to 1.3347 Canadian {dollars} from 1.3335 Canadian {dollars}, as a bump in Crude Oil bids was propping up the Canadian dollar whereas the Bank of Canada sees decrease odds of inflation dangers making a reappearance.
The U.S. dollar elevated to 0.8630 Swiss francs from 0.8608 Swiss francs, and it rose to 10.1736 Swedish kronor from 10.1683 Swedish kronor.