US dollar posts gains while euro plunges

In the second half of the week, the US dollar maintains positions near multi-month peaks against the euro making use of stable US inflation and below-expectations economic reports in the EU.

The US Dollar index slightly changed staying at some 97.075, which is some 0.5% up d-o-d.

CPI showed the slowest upturn in January over 6 months. At the same time, the core index has been on the rise for the third month in a row. This factor supported the greenback.

On Thursday, the euro to US dollar rate was recorded at $1.1264. As a result, the rate was below an important psychological level of $1.13. For reference, yesterday's session saw the bottom of $1.1245.

The euro reportedly has dropped by more than 1% over the period under review affected by weak economic reports in the euro-area, which turned to be even worse the previous forecasts. At the same time, additional pressure came from the fact that the European Central Bank would not tighten the monetary policy this year sticking to a softer position.

According to the reports, the industrial production in the euro-area collapsed in December exceeding the anticipated level due to lower output of production means.

As for the Japanese yen, the rate took roots near 111.05. 

The New Zealand dollar got stronger vs the greenback reaching some $0.6832, following the previous hikes. Its Australian counterpart also posted positive dynamics moving up by 0.4% to $0.7120 driven by an optimistic outlook for Washington-Beijing talks. For reference, China is the major trade partner of Australia.