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NEW YORK: The US dollar edged up in late trading on Wednesday, after a slightly hotter-than-anticipated consumer price index (CPI) report for August.
The dollar index, which measures the greenback against six major peers, rose 0.06 per cent to 104.7727 in late trading, reported Xinhua.
The US Bureau of Labor Statistics released its latest CPI report on Wednesday. The US headline inflation expanded at a 0.6 per cent pace in August from a month ago as market anticipation. Core CPI that excludes volatile oil and food prices rose by 0.3 per cent, higher than estimates and July’s 0.2 per cent.
The report showed headline inflation grew 3.7 per cent in August from a year ago, a pickup from a 3.2 per cent increase in July. Rising energy prices fueled the uptick, while underlying price pressures stayed mostly mild.
US stocks advanced and US Treasury yields oscillated within a tight range on Wednesday after the CPI data.
“This was a complicated inflation report, considering price gains are failing to ease by enough for the central bank to abandon its hawkish stance,“ said Ed Moya, a senior market analyst at OANDA Corp.
“Today’s uptick in CPI could slightly increase the likelihood of a November interest rate hike and potentially delay the timing of any rate cuts until deeper into 2024,“ said Joe Tuckey, head of FX analysis at Argentex Group.
US Treasury yields were range-bound in the wake of the CPI report.
In late New York trading, the euro was unchanged at US$1.0732, and the British pound rose to US$1.2486 from US$1.2485.
The US dollar bought 147.4540 Japanese yen, higher than 147.1020 Japanese yen of the previous session. The US dollar increased to 0.8934 Swiss francs from 0.8912 Swiss francs, and it was up to 1.3564 Canadian dollars from 1.3556 Canadian dollars. The US dollar increased to 11.1379 Swedish krona from 11.1007 Swedish krona. - Bernama
