The US dollar index fell by 0.41% on Friday, impacted by weaker-than-expected consumer sentiment and concerns over potential politically-driven changes to monetary policy. The University of Michigan’s preliminary consumer sentiment index dropped to 58.6 in August, down 3.1 points from July, with 58% of consumers indicating plans to reduce spending due to inflation worries.
July US retail sales increased by 0.5% month-over-month, slightly below the expected 0.6%, while June’s figure was revised upwards to 0.9%. Additionally, July industrial production reported a decrease of 0.1% month-over-month, against expectations of no change, despite a revision of June’s figure to a rise of 0.4%.
On the international front, China’s July retail sales rose by 3.7% year-over-year, falling short of the 4.6% expectation, and its jobless rate increased to 5.2%. President Trump announced the forthcoming implementation of tariffs on imported steel and semiconductors, along with extending the tariff truce with China for another 90 days.
