USD Mixed Against Major Currencies

The dollar rose against the pound but fell against the euro on February 2 amid mixed US economic data and coming interest decisions in Europe.

The European Central Bank (ECB) and the Bank of England are due to update their monetary policies on Thursday. Analysts forecasted that the Bank of England would cut its key interest rate, which is already at a historic low, by up to 1 percentage point.

The ECB was expected to keep rate unchanged as ECB president said in recent weeks that the next critical monetary policy announcement is in March.

The US Commerce Department reported on Monday that construction spending during December 2008 was estimated at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 1,053.7 billion dollars, 1.4 percent below the revised November estimate. Analysts expected a loss of 1.2 percent. The value of construction in 2008 was 5.1 percent lower than that of 2007.

The department said in a separate report that US consumers are spending less and saving more. Personal consumption expenditures decreased 102.4 billion dollars, or 1.0 percent, in December. Personal saving as a percentage of disposable personal income was 3.6 percent in December, compared with 2.8 percent in November.

The dollar gained some strength from a better-than-expected manufacturing activity report. According to the Institute for Supply Management (ISM), the manufacturing index rose to 35.6 percent in January from 32.9 in December. Analysts expected the index would fall to 32.0 percent.

But a reading bellow 50 still indicates a contraction in the sector. The US manufacturing sector contracted for the 12th straight month in January.

The euro bought 1.2827 dollars in late New York trading compared with 1.2794 dollars it bought late Friday. The pound fell to 1.4269 dollars from 1.4456 dollars.

The dollar rose to 1.2449 Canadian dollars from 1.2290 Canadian dollars, and rose to 1.1630 Swiss francs from 1.1622 Swiss francs. It fell slightly to 89.60 Japanese yen from 89.88 Japanese yen.

(Xinhua News Agency February 3, 2009)