Dollar up as China growth figures offer no surprise
By Masayuki Kitano
TOKYO, Oct 22 (Reuters) - The dollar bounced off a 14-month low against a basket of currencies and the Australian dollar eased on Thursday as investors locked in profits after Chinese economic data offered no major surprise.
Although China’s gross domestic product accelerated to 8.9 percent in the third quarter, the news was in line with market expectations and gave traders a reason to take profits in higher-yielding currencies such as the Australian dollar.
“I think there were hopes that the numbers might come in stronger, but they turned out to be broadly in line with expectations,” said Masafumi Yamamoto, chief foreign exchange strategist for Japan at Barclays Capital. But the Chinese data is unlikely to change the prevailing trend of dollar weakness and strength in growth-linked commodity currencies, market players said.
Article from: Reuters.com
