The sizzling March U.S. retail report has shown the strength of the economic recovery there and supercharged the dollar around the world despite Middle East anxiety.
The U.S. performance shines out again and has pushed the dollar to fresh year highs despite Tuesday's news of China's economy sputtering and British joblessness growing.
China's first-quarter GDP annual growth of 5.3% exceeded estimates, but March industry and retail growth missed forecasts, new home prices plummeted at their highest pace in eight years, and property investment fell about 17%.
“There’s this urgency to act, and that’s what happened in Damascus,” the person said of the April 1 consular building strike that killed two Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps generals and five officers. The official said it's the same frustration U.S. officials have with Israel's Gaza policy.
Wall St equities indexes (.SPX),were side-swiped again on Monday by the interest rate implications of such fast growth, heightened geopolitical concerns, and a weak earnings season outlook, but the greenback is gaining pace.
In response to lowered Federal Reserve rate cut expectations and pressure on other central banks to ease first, the dollar's main index (.DXY) touched a five-month high on Tuesday and has gained 4% in six weeks.
The euro, China's offshore yuan, and sterling touched their lowest levels versus the dollar since November, while the Japanese yen fell to 154.60 per dollar, a 34-year low. Currency volatility (.DBCVIX), opens new tab, reached a two-month high.
After Monday's surprising March U.S. retail sales increase, economists raised their first-quarter economic growth projections to slightly under 3%. Morgan Stanley boosted its Q1 GDP growth prediction to 2.7% from 2.4%, against a consensus of 2.1%. Atlanta Fed's 'GDPNow' real-time estimate is 2.8%.
Follow for more updates