Data Release Helps Dollar And Yuan Rise – 16 January, 2020

Strong U.S. retail and job data helped boost the dollar to an eight month high against the yen, while the Chinese yuan rose on trade deal optimism. December marked the third straight month of U.S. retail sales increasing, helping the greenback rise as from Wednesdays low of 107.65 to a as high as 110.305 yen, its strongest since May. Against a basket of six major currencies, the dollar index was steady at 97.322. The pound and euro were also flat, with the pound last trading at $1.3035, and the euro at $1.1133. Chinese economic data pointing to a more stable economy helped the onshore yuan hit a six month high of 6.8660 against the dollar.