Sydney () - The dollar struggled to make much headway in Asian trading hours Wednesday, as investors grappled with mixed signals from some key Chinese data.
The dollar index DXY -0.22% , which measures the greenback against a basket of six currencies, traded at 74.57, broadly flat compared to 74.569 reached in late North American trading.
The data out from China on Wednesday showed a 5.3% jump in consumer prices in April compared to a year ago.
That was slightly below the 5.4% reading for March, which was a 32-month high for the data series, but above economist forecasts for a rise of between 5.1% and 5.2%.
On the other hand, wholesale inflation climbed 6.8%, missing economist forecasts, while industrial output growth of 13.4% also undershot expectations.Read more on Chinese data.
“Chinese April data released today showed that price pressures remain uncomfortably strong, but also provided signs that policy tightening measures put in place over the last six months or so are gaining some traction,” said strategists at RBC Capital Markets.
“Risks to the inflation outlook, however, remain skewed to the upside, and we continue to expect additional policy action in the months ahead,” they said.
The dollar bought 80.85 Japanese yen USDYEN -0.1484% , from ¥80.81 in late trading on Tuesday.
The euro EURUSD +0.04% traded at $1.4390 , compared to $1.4405 in late North American trading on Tuesday.
“For all the negative headlines on Greece yesterday, the euro has held up remarkably well suggesting the market has reached a saturation point on the topic for now,” said the RBC strategists.
The British pound GBPUSD +0.5377% reached $1.6362, from $1.6363 the previous day, ahead of the Bank of England’s quarterly inflation report.
“Further evidence of weakness in the U.K. economy ahead would make a rate rise in August much less probable and sterling negative. The inflation report will indicate clues of the Bank of England’s policy outlook,” said strategists at BNP Paribas.
