The U.S. dollar extended its early rally against its most major rivals in early New York deals on Monday, following the release of better-than-expected personal income data in the month of February.
According to a report released by the Commerce Department, the personal income climbed by 0.4 percent in February, matching the upwardly revised increase seen in January.
Economists had been expecting income to rise by 0.3 percent.
Meanwhile, the report also showed that personal spending inched up by 0.1 percent in February after dipping by 0.2 percent in January.
The currency was already supported by expectations that the Federal Reserve is on course to increase rates later this year. In a speech at San Francisco on Friday, Fed Chair Janet Yellen told that she expects the Fed to start normalising monetary policy later this year, even though inflation and wage growth have not picked up.
In the Asian session, the greenback was higher, adding onto Friday’s gains. The greenback rose by 0.17 percent versus the pound and 0.03 percent against the euro on Friday.
The greenback appreciated to a 10-day high of 1.4752 against the pound and a weekly high of 124.04 against the yen, compared to Friday’s closing values of 1.4869 and 119.10, respectively. If the greenback continues rise, it may find resistance around 1.47 against the pound and 120.5 against the yen.
The greenback that closed last week’s deals at 1.0885 against the euro edged up to 1.0812. On the upside, the greenback may challenge resistance around the 1.05 mark.
Survey figures from the European Commission showed that Eurozone economic sentiment rose for the fourth successive month to its highest level in nearly four years.
The economic sentiment index climbed to 103.9 from 102.3 in February, revised from 102.1.
The greenback reached as high as 0.9672 against the franc at 3:00 am ET, before holding steady in subsequent trading. The greenback-franc pair finished last week’s trading at 0.9606.
The greenback spiked up to near a 2-week high of 0.7639 against the aussie, 10-day highs of 1.2677 against the loonie and 0.7505 against the NZ dollar, up from last week’s closing quotes of 0.7745, 1.2612 and 0.7561,respectively. The greenback may possibly challenge resistance around 0.76 against the aussie, 1.28 against the loonie and 0.745 against the kiwi.
The material has been provided by InstaForex Company – www.instaforex.com