US dollar gives back retail sales gains on a few fronts

The currency market is in a tug-of-war today.

The US dollar is getting help from rising Treasury yields but is under pressure from improving risk appetite. That’s created a bifurcation trade as USD/JPY holds onto its gains while the US dollar gives back post-data gains against the pound and commodity currencies.

GBP/USD dropped on better US retail sales and initial jobless claims data but the pound has slowly recouped the decline.

Similarly, there have been 30-40 pip round trips in the commodity currencies.

The euro is about half-way back as well.

The strength in those moves will depend on how strongly equities trade from here. The S&P 500 is near a high of the day, up 70 points, or 1.3%.

This article was written by Adam Button at www.forexlive.com.