Forex News: U.S. Dollar Ticks Higher As U.S. Steps Up

U.S. Dollar Ticks Higher As U.S. Steps Up Threats On Iran While Crude Oil Prices Plunge

(RTTNews) - The U.S. Dollar value ended nearly flat as the U.S. pressure on Iran through new threats held the concerns of an expansive Middle East war alive while a slump in crude oil prices reduced inflationary concerns preventing the upside movement of the U.S. dollar.

The U.S. Dollar Index, DXY, which measures the Greenback against a basket of other major currencies was last seen trading at 101.47, up by 0.02 (or 0.02%) today.

In the U.S., the S&P Global's Composite Purchasing Managers' Index rose to 53.60 in July from 51.90 in June, its highest level since November. Business activity rapidly progressed in the services sector to an eight-month high.

Manufacturing output expanded but at a slower pace. Manufacturing PMI edged down to 53.80 in July from 53.90 in June, falling short of market expectations of 54.30.

Services PMI rose to 53.60 in July from 51.20 in the previous month.

U.S. Census Bureau data revealed that new single-family home sales increased 1.60% month-over-month to a seasonally adjusted annualized rate of 628,000 in June.

While against the Euro, the USD was trading at 1.137, up by 0.03%, against the GBP, the USD was trading at 1.332, down by 0.04%.

Against the USD, the Japanese Yen was trading at 163.841, down by 0.01%, the Swiss Franc was trading at 0.818, down by 0.18%; and the Canadian Dollar was trading at 1.409, down by 0.07%.

Against one unit of Australian Dollar, the USD was trading at 0.698, down by 0.19%.

Since the collapse of June 17 Memorandum of Understanding signed between the U.S. and Iran, global markets remain impacted by the developments in the Middle East.

U.S. concluded its 13th consecutive night of strikes on Iran following a series of threats by U.S. President Donald Trump to the Iranian government.

Vowing to inflict severe damages, Trump warned that for every single strike on any ship transiting the Strait of Hormuz, one bridge or a power plant in Iran will be destroyed by U.S. forces.

Opening a new front in the conflict, Iran-backed Houthi militant group of Yemen attacked two vessels of Saudi Arabia transiting through the Red Sea.

Trump warned that any attack by Houthi group again would invite a major military punishment by the U.S. on Iran. Trump termed the rebel group as a proxy of Iran.

Late Thursday, in an interview with Axios Trump stated that he is planning a massive attack on Iran, which would be on a larger scale than before.

Trump explicitly stated that Iran has not received enough pain yet.

Today, Iran's Mehr News Agency reported that the Iranian army launched a new wave of drone attacks on U.S. military installations in Jordan, Kuwait, and Bahrain.

The Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps also targeted a data center of Amazon in Bahrain.

Through Truth Social, Trump announced that the U.S. would start utilizing Iran's frozen assets in foreign nations as a compensation for the damages to ships and cargo by Iranian attacks.

Media reports that the total value of Iranian assets globally amount to anywhere between $100 billion and $123 billion.

Heavily criticizing Trump's plans, Iran's Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi stated that seizing a country's asset to pay for unrelated future claims is an incendiary precedent, and warned that the ensuing chaos will not be pretty or peaceful.

Yesterday's U.S. Department of Labor's data revealing a decline in the unemployment benefit claims by 22,000 to 187,000 for the week to July 18 was surprisingly unexpected and far from forecasts. The numbers indicated a stronger labor market despite inflationary pressures.

According to the CME Group's FedWatch Tool, currently investors are betting on a 37.90% chance of a quarter-basis-point interest rate hike in the upcoming meeting of the U.S. Federal Reserve on July 28-29 while the odds on rates being held at the current level stand at 62.10%.

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