Today’s dollar spot returns look like a replay of yesterday with minor losses against 9/10 of the G-10 currencies, and the dollar’s single G-10 gain vs. the GBP +0.21%. Dollar declines: -0.50% vs. CHF, -0.41% vs. JPY & NZD, -0.34% vs. AUD, -0.33% vs. EUR and -0.17% vs. CAD. The dollar index is trading at 104.38, -0.33% for the day. Near-term support is between 104.00 and 104.25.
U.S. Retail Sales data released today for January was below forecasts in all categories. Monthly Retail Sales were -0.8% (-0.2% est.); Monthly Retail Sales Ex-Auto were -0.6% (+0.2% est.); and Retail Sales Ex Auto & Gas were -0.5% (+0.2% est). Despite coming in below all forecasts, all Retail Sales results were within the most recent two-year high/low ranges. Import & Export Prices increased by 0.8% in January, above the +0.0% estimate.
U.S. Initial Jobless Claims were 212k (220k est.) for the week ending Feb 10th.
U.S. Treasury yields are lower in all tenors in an almost uniform decline ranging between -0.4% and -0.5%. The benchmark 10-year yield is 4.213%.
