Dollar climbs on stronger retail sales

Dollar climbs on stronger retail sales

By Wanfeng Zhou, MarketWatch

Last Update: 4:12 PM ET Jun 13, 2007

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NEW YORK (MarketWatch) -- The dollar rallied to a four-and-a-half year peak against the yen Wednesday, after a government report showed U.S. retail sales rose much more than forecast last month.

The dollar briefly advanced against the euro, touching an 11-week high, after the Commerce Department said retail sales registered the largest gain in 16 months. The strong reading boosted expectations that the Federal Reserve will keep interest rates high.

The "robust results for May suggested that the recent soft patch in U.S. economic growth has bottomed and consumer-led spending is fueling [gross domestic product] growth back to the 3.5% area in [the second-quarter]," said Michael Woolfolk, senior currency strategist at The Bank of New York. "Bullish dollar sentiment has carried over from last week."

Late in New York, the euro stood at $1.3305, compared with $1.3307 late Tuesday, after sliding to $1.3261, the lowest level since March 26. The dollar was quoted at 122.74 yen, compared with 121.75 yen, after rising to 122.75 yen, the highest level since December 2002.

The British pound stood at $1.9726, compared with $1.9749. The dollar changed hands at 1.2451 Swiss francs, compared with 1.2423 francs. Read More

Dollar Sets New Multi-week High Versus Euro

(RTTNews) - The U.S. dollar rallied against the euro in the early deals on Tuesday in New York, but it saw uncertainty in direction during the mid-day deals. However, the pair continued higher in late trading, likely influenced by the Japanese current account data. Compared to the day's low of 1.3386, the pair has lately fetched as high as 1.3268. This is a 10-week high for the pair. If the dollar strengthens further, 1.325 will be a likely level of resistance in the near term.

USD/EURO