As statistics revealed that retail sales in the previous month were worse than anticipated but that the overall pattern was solid, the U.S. dollar edged higher today. At around 102.43, the US currency index was last marginally higher on May 16. At 136.15 Japanese Yen, the Greenback was a little stronger against the yen.
Although the underlying trend stayed positive and U.S. retail sales increased less than anticipated in the month before, it is probable that consumer spending remained high towards the beginning of Q2.
Following two sluggish months, there was a comeback, suggesting that consumer spending continues to maintain its current state, according to UBS’ Vassili Serebriakov. The FX Strategist went on to say that “Consumer spending has been the strongest component of the economy at the moment. And we have seen business confidence indicators are much weaker than consumer indicators and this report is consistent with that.”
Having a little over a week left ahead of the U.S. government running out of money to cover its bills, currency investors are still on edge due to a number of potential perils, such as a crucial meeting between Joe Biden, the president of the United States and Kevin McCarthy, the Republican House Speaker.
The debt ceiling could be the subject of some potential news on Tuesday. According to Serebriakov, there is a good chance that this will be delayed until the deadline, which is at the beginning of June. He went on to say that as such, the market ought to stay in a range.
