Economic data from the USA had little impact on the foreign exchange market at the end of the week. On Friday, the euro was quoted little changed in relation to the dollar at $ 1.1809. In terms of the impact on growth and price pressures, traders looked at the surprising increase in US retail sales in June, up 0.6 percent from the previous month. Experts had expected a minus of 1.3 percent. “As the boost from extraordinary government spending subsides, consumers, some of whom are probably still unemployed, have to shoulder the burden of keeping the economy going,” said Marshall Gittler, chief analyst at brokerage firm BDSwiss.
In view of rising US consumer prices, investors are currently puzzled as to when exactly the US Federal Reserve will reduce its monetary policy support for the economy.
With the spread of the more contagious Delta variant of the coronavirus, some investors feared that the global economic upswing would falter and resorted to safe Bunds. This pushed the yield on ten-year German government bonds to a three-and-a-half-month low of minus 0.355 percent. On the oil market, prices fluctuated around their previous day’s values after their recent losses. A barrel of the Brent variety last cost $ 73.24, 0.3 percent less. Meanwhile, the price of nickel spiked 2.5 percent to a five-month high of $ 19,205 a ton. A strong demand meets a short supply, said Commerzbank analyst Eugen Weinberg. In addition, investors feared delivery shortfalls due to the unrest in South Africa, an important export country. Since stocks have also recently fallen, the price will remain high.