U.S. Dollar Retains Some Strength After Retail Sales

The U.S. dollar is retaining some of its strength in currency trading on the FX market with the news that retail sales were lower in June. Indeed, the news that U.S. consumers aren't spending a great deal is likely to derail the economy to some degree.

However, things aren't as bad as they could be. Retail sales were only slightly worse than expected. GFT's Kathy Lien reports in FX360 on the silver lining:

The number could have been a lot worse considering that most clothing retailers posted a decrease in revenue last month. However the selloff in the dollar was limited because the details was not as ugly as the headline number thanks partially to a late Memorial Day weekend which added approximately 1 percent to spending.  Retail sales excluding autos and gas also rose 0.1 percent.

The U.S. dollar is expected to move somewhat lower against other currencies in forex trading as sentiment improves, but today the greenback is likely to remain somewhat strong. The only major currencies gaining against the dollar right now are the Japanese yen and the U.K. pound.