US dollar gains on euro, yen

The US dollar gained on the euro and the yen Thursday on speculation that the Federal Reserve will raise US interest rates before the year is out and on data showing that house prices didn’t fall as much in the first quarter as had been anticipated.

Just before noon in New York, the dollar traded at $1.5713 to the euro while it took ¥103.9750 to buy a dollar.

The pound gained on all major currencies after a new report showed that retail sales in the UK were down only 0.2 percent in April from March figures, with the smaller decline than expected tending to decrease the possibility that the Bank of England will issue an interest rate cut in June.

In late morning trade in New York, a pound was worth $1.9801 while it traded at 79.36p to the euro.

The Australia and New Zealand dollars both saw gains, to 95.60 cents US and 78.52 cents US respectively.

The Aussie gained on demand for higher-yielding currencies and on the possibility that the Reserve Bank of Australia will raise interest rates soon, while the kiwi was helped by a tax cut from the Finance Minister there that made a rate cut by the Reserve Bank of New Zealand less of a probability.

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