US dollar slips on soft data

New York (Aug 8)  The US dollar fell against most major currencies as economic data from the country came out negative, dampening market sentiment for an interest-rate hike as early as September.

The US employment cost index registered the smallest quarterly gain in 33 years. The index, which is seen as the broadest measure of labour costs, rose just 0.2 percent in the second quarter, the labour department said on Friday.

The latest reading was below market consensus of a 0.6-percent gain, reported Xinhua news agency.

Analysts said the weak data took some shine from the robust GDP report and curbed expectations for the central bank to raise interest rates in this quarter.

The dollar index, which measures the greenback against six major currencies, was down 0.34 percent to 97.227 in late trading.

In late New York trading, the euro rose to $1.0981 from $1.0921 in the previous session, and the British pound climbed to $1.5618 dollars from $1.5600. The Australian dollar went up to $0.7304 from $0.7286.

Source: Business-Standard