Dollar extends gains as bond yields rise

The US dollar rallied against most major currencies on Wednesday, after the release of inflation data, which has contributed in lifting the US Treasury bond yields.

President of the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis James Bullard projected yesterday that the US inflation rate will rise above the Fed's target of 2% during 2022.

The US Department of the Treasury revealed today that the budget deficit reached $225.5 billion last month, to a total of $1.9 trillion during the first 7 months of the fiscal year.

Data showed that the US consumer price index rose 0.8% in April, beating forecasts of a rise by 0.2%, and the core reading for the same index (excluding energy and food prices) rose by 0.9% in April, higher than forecasts of 0.3%.

The US Treasury bond yields rose above 1.671% today, which weighs down on stocks and commodity currencies.

The dollar index rose against a basket of major currencies by 0.6% to 90.7 points as of 18:56 GMT, after hitting a high of 90.8 points and a low of 90.1 points.