Retail sales at 8-months high supporting US dollar

The US dollar gained on Thursday after US retail sales increased more than markets anticipated in November, as jobless claims decreased by 3,000 last week.

The US Dollar Index rose 0.64% at 14:10 GMT around 88.52, compared with the entry levels 87.98.

US retail sales increased by 0.7% last month, beating expectations for a gain of 0.4%. This came amid rising wages and low fuel prices, prompting Americans to acquisitions especially in the holidays of last month.

Retail sales are an important indicator to measure the economy’s health, which shown improvement in the economy after recording its best increase in eight months.

The number of individuals filing for initial jobless benefits last week decreased by 3,000 to 294,000 from the previous week’s total of 297,000.

The dollar was able to achieve further progress against the Japanese yen after three consecutive sessions of decline. The dollar rose against the yen by 0.82% and is trading around 118.76, compared with the entry levels 117.80.

The dollar forced the euro to retreat and rose by 0.35% to 1.2406, compared with the entry levels 1.2446.