TOKYO- The dollar held near a four-month peak against major peers on Thursday after retreating overnight as a cooling in consumer inflation tempered bets for an earlier tightening of US monetary policy.
The dollar index, which measures the greenback against a basket of six rivals, was little changed at 92.890, following a 0.19 percent decline from Wednesday, when it rose as high as 93.195, a level not seen since April 1.
The consumer price index rose 0.5 percent last month, in line with economist estimates but down from the 0.9 percent advance in June. Inflation eased in some areas where Fed policymakers had indicated price pressures would likely prove temporary, such as used cars.
The Fed has made a labor market recovery a condition for phasing out its asset purchase program and raising interest rates, while generally viewing current inflationary pressures as transitory, although there has been debate about how long those pressures could last.
The Fed is “likely to take some comfort” from the CPI report, David de Garis, an analyst at National Australia Bank, wrote in a note to clients.
“For now, the focus returns more fully to the rate of improvement in the state of the labor market.”
The euro was little changed at $1.1740 after retreating from a four-month low of $1.1706 on Wednesday, which brought it just two tenths of a cent from the weakest level since early November.
The dollar eased 0.07 percent to 110.355 yen, continuing to pull back from a five-week high of 110.80 reached overnight. – Reuters
