The dollar has dipped in early-afternoon trading on Tuesday. Newly released data shows the U.S. trade deficit grew more in August than originally predicted. The downbeat report questions the strength of the U.S. economy.
Against several currencies, the dollar is down on the day. The USD/JPY is down 0.18%. EUR/USD rose to 1.1271 or 0.74% on the day.
The U.S. trade deficit in July was $41.81 billion and grew to $48.33 billion in August. Initial estimates predicted that August figures would rise to $47.40 billion. The report comes at a time when the U.S. economy’s strength is in question. The Fed did not raise the interest rate in September and reports released on Friday indicate that the job market is slowing.
Against the Australian dollar, the USD weakened with the AUD/USD gaining 0.89%. The rising AUD comes after the Reserve Bank of Australia decided to keep the benchmark interest rate unchanged at a current rate of 2%.
The USD/CAD is down on the day by 0.25% after initial data had the USD/CAD up by 0.35%.
Canada’s trade deficit also widened from C$0.82 billion in July to C$2.53 billion in August. Initial analyst forecasts had the deficit at C$1.20 billion in the month of August.
The U.S. dollar index is down 0.68% to 95.57.