US dollar retreats after weak economic data; yen gets minor relief

Reuters

US dollar retreats after weak economic data; yen gets minor relief

27. Jun. 2024 um 3:40 nachm. GMT

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Yen rises, but not far from 38-year low vs dollar

U.S. continuing claims rise in latest week

U.S. durables fall unexpectedly

Final U.S. GDP number for Q1 down from Q4

Recasts, adds new comment, U.S. data, updates prices

By Gertrude Chavez-Dreyfuss and Amanda Cooper

NEW YORK/LONDON, June 27 (Reuters) - The yen edged up from a 38-year low against the U.S. dollaron Thursday, helped by softening U.S. economic data, although traders remainedon high alertfor any signs of Japanese interventionto prop up the currency.

In the broader market, the dollar fell against a basket of currencies,as U.S. Treasury yields slippedfollowing the data.

U.S. reports showed that jobless claims for state unemployment benefits dropped 6,000 to 233,000 for the week ended June 22. However, the number of people receiving benefits after an initial week of aid increased 18,000 to 1.839 million during the week ending June 15.

At the same time, new orders for key U.S.-manufactured capital goods unexpectedly fell in May, suggesting business spending on equipment weakened in the second quarter.

Non-defense capital goods orders excluding aircraft, a closely-watched proxy for business spending plans, dropped 0.6% last month, the data showed. Economists polled by Reuters had forecast core capital goods orders edging up 0.1%.

"This morning's data deluge helped puncture the 'U.S. exceptionalism' trade, knocking the greenback lower," said Karl Schamotta, chief market strategist, at Corpay in Toronto, referring to the U.S. outperformance with respect to the rest of the world.

"Odds on a cut at the Federal Reserve's September meeting are firming and yields are cautiously coming down across the curve as market participants position ahead of tomorrow’s personal consumption expenditures release."

More data showed that economic growth moderated sharply in the first quarter. Gross domestic product increased at a slightly upwardly revised 1.4% annualized rate last quarter, but down from the 3.4% registered in last three months of 2023.

The GDP report also showed weak consumer spending.

YEN WOES

In late morning trading, the yen gained 0.2% against the greenback to 160.555 per dollar JPY=EBS,having fallen to a low of 160.88 on Wednesday, its weakest since 1986.

The Japanese currency has fallen some 2% this month and 12% for the year against a resilient dollar, as it continues to be hammered by stark interest rate differentials between the U.S. and Japan. That has encouraged investors to use the yen as funding currencyfor carry trades.

In a carry trade, an investor borrows in a currency with low interest rates and invests the proceeds in higher-yielding assets.

Still, the yen's latest slide past the key 160 per dollar level has kept traders nervous over possible intervention from Tokyo, after authorities spent 9.79 trillion yen ($60.94 billion) at the end of April and in early May to push the yen up 5% from its 34-year low of 160.245 then.

"There seems little chance that the Bank of Japan and its allies can shore up the yen without incurring horrendous costs, or jacking up rates to such an extent that they destroy the economy," Trade Nation senior market analyst David Morrison said.

Analysts said while the risk of intervention has increased, Japanese authorities could be holding out for Friday's release of the U.S. personal consumption expenditures (PCE) price index before entering the market. Still, any intervention would likely have a limited effect, they said.

In other currencies,sterling GBP=D3 rose0.3% to$1.2651while the euro EUR=EBS rose 0.3%to $1.0710.

The euro is on track to lose roughly 1.4% this month, weighed down by political turmoil in the euro zone in the lead up to France's snap election set to begin this weekend.

The dollar index =USD fell 0.2%to 105.84, not far from a nearly two-month high of 106.13 on Wednesday.

The Swedish crown weakened after the central bank held its key interest rate at 3.75% on Thursday, as expected, and said if inflation prospects remain the same, the policy rate could be cut two or three times during the second half of the year.

The dollar was last 0.3%higher at 10.608 crowns SEK=D3.

Wednesday was the last day that investors could trade currencies for the quarter, given that spot foreign exchange settlement takes two business days.

Trading of U.S. stocks, however, moved to a shorter settlement cycle last month, known as T+1.

Currency bid prices at 27 June 03:23 p.m. GMT
Description	RIC	Last	U.S. Close Previous Session	Pct Change	YTD Pct	High Bid	Low Bid
Dollar index	=USD	105.88	106.05	-0.15%	4.45%	106.08	105.7
Euro/Dollar	EUR=EBS	1.0704	1.0681	0.22%	-3.03%	$1.0726	$1.0677
Dollar/Yen	JPY=D3	160.65	160.79	-0.09%	13.89%	160.68	160.32
Euro/Yen	EURJPY=	1.0704	171.72	0.13%	10.49%	172.16	171.39
Dollar/Swiss	CHF=EBS	0.8977	0.8975	0.01%	6.64%	0.8981	0.8959
Sterling/Dollar	GBP=D3	1.2646	1.2622	0.21%	-0.61%	$1.267	$1.0677
Dollar/Canadian	CAD=D3	1.369	1.3703	-0.08%	3.29%	1.3712	1.3676
Aussie/Dollar	AUD=D3	0.6649	0.6648	0.05%	-2.46%	$0.6673	$0.664
Euro/Swiss	EURCHF=	0.9607	0.9584	0.24%	3.46%	0.962	0.9579
Euro/Sterling	EURGBP=	0.8461	0.8461	0.01%	-2.38%	0.8475	0.8454
NZ Dollar/Dollar	NZD=D3	0.6088	0.6083	0.11%	-3.63%	$0.6109	0.6069
Dollar/Norway	NOK=	10.6552	10.6779	-0.21%	5.13%	10.6923	10.632
Euro/Norway	EURNOK=	11.4056	11.4066	-0.01%	1.62%	11.418	11.3778
Dollar/Sweden	SEK=	10.6172	10.5736	0.41%	5.47%	10.6182	10.548
Euro/Sweden	EURSEK=	11.366	11.2899	0.67%	2.16%	11.369	11.2837

World FX rates https://tmsnrt.rs/2RBWI5E

Reporting by Gertrude Chavez-Dreyfuss in New York and Amanda Cooper in London; Additional reporting by Rae Wee and Ankur Banerjee in Singapore; Editing by Shri Navaratnam, Jacqueline Wong and Sharon Singleton

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