Yahoo Finance U.S. Dollar Steadies Despite Weaker-Than-Expected Q4 GDP Data
Investing.com - The U.S. dollar steadied on Friday in Asia even after data showed a weaker-than-expected fourth quarter GDP data.
The U.S. dollar index that tracks the greenback against a basket of other currencies was up 0.1% to 96.773 by 11:24 PM ET (03:24 GMT).
On Thursday, the Commerce Department said U.S. gross domestic product increased at a 2.2% annualised rate in the October-December period. Economists had expected a 2.4% growth rate.
The greenback was little impacted following the release of the data as a plunge in the British pound yesterday offered support to the dollar.
The fall in the pound came after the U.K. parliament failed to pass any bills that were alternatives to Prime Minister Theresa May’s Brexit agreement.
May will now ask U.K. lawmakers to vote on one part of her Brexit deal, the Withdrawal Agreement, which sets out the terms of the U.K.'s departure from the EU during the transition period.
The EU said it would only grant a Brexit delay until May 22 if the lawmakers back the deal. Failing that, Brexit will be delayed only until April 12.
The Prime Minister said yesterday that she would step down if her deal gets passed.
The GBP/USD pair rose 0.2% to 1.3068.
On the Sino-U.S. trade front, White House economic adviser Larry Kudlow said the Trump administration is prepared to negotiate with China for months in order to reach a trade deal.
He also said the U.S. may lift some of the tariffs on Chinese goods, but not all of them.
High-level officials from the two sides, including U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer, Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin and Chinese Vice Premier Liu He began a two-days meeting in Beijing on Thursday.
Mnuchin told reporters that they had a “productive working dinner” yesterday.
The USD/CNY pair fell 0.2% to 6.7231.
Elsewhere, the USD/JPY pair gained 0.1% to 110.76.
The AUD/USD pair and the NZD/USD pair both edged up 0.1%.
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