USD Edges Higher on Data

The dollar was slightly firmer against the majors in the Wednesday session, pushing the euro off its session highs just shy of the 1.33-level toward the 1.32-handle and recovering above the 1.50-level versus the sterling. US equities were largely flat on the day with traders eyeing key earnings reports scheduled for the remainder of the week including JP Morgan, Citigroup and GE. The major driver of FX market moves continues to be global equity direction, with safe haven flows benefiting the dollar and yen. Economic data released earlier from the US included March CPI, NY Fed manufacturing, industrial output, capacity utilization, net capital flows and the NAHB housing market index. The March CPI declined by 0.1% versus an increase of 0.4% in the previous month, while the annualized CPI figure fell by 0.4% compared with +0.2% a year earlier.