New York : The US dollar climbed against most major currencies as the retail sales data from the country boosted market sentiment for an interest-rate hike in September.
The advance estimates of US retail and food services sales for July were $446.5 billion, an increase of 0.6 percent from the previous month, Xinhua quoted the Commerce department as saying on Thursday.
The greenback was also supported by the statement of the People’s Bank of China (PBOC) and the slowdown of the Chinese currency RMB’s declines.
According to the PBOC, the RMB will remain strong in the long run with no basis for persistent and substantial depreciation.
Analysts said the statement eased investors’ concerns and shifted market’s focus back to the rate hike in September.
The dollar index, which measures the greenback against six major currencies, was up 0.25 percent at 96.498 in late trading.
In late New York trading, the euro fell to $1.1135 from $1.1162 in the previous session, and the British pound climbed to $1.5612 from $1.5608 in the previous session.
The Australian dollar dropped to 0.7,359 dollar from 0.7,374 dollar.
The US dollar bought 124.45 Japanese yen, higher than 124.22 yen of the previous session.
The US dollar rose to 0.9,770 Swiss franc from 0.9,743 Swiss franc, and it inched up to 1.3070 Canadian dollars from 1.2994 Canadian dollars.