The dollar rose against a basket of currencies on Thursday as underlying domestic inflation strengthened more than expected in September, reviving some expectations the Federal Reserve would raise interest rates this year. The rebound of the dollar index from a seven-week low set earlier on Thursday was limited by gloomy figures on regional manufacturing from the New York and Philadelphia Feds.
The surprise 0.2 percent rise in US consumer prices excluding food and energy last month boosted the year-over-year gain to 1.9 percent, keeping alive chances the core inflation would attain the Fed's 2 percent goal in the coming months. "The inflation picture looks less grim. That gave some stability to the dollar," said Sebastien Galy, currency strategist at Deutsche Bank in New York. The dollar index was last up 0.5 percent at 94.361, recovering from a seven-week low at 93.806.
While the euro's drop gave the dollar some respite, there was a broad feeling that the strong dollar environment that has dominated the past 18 months is fading. The euro was down 0.7 percent on the day at $1.1393, retreating from an earlier peak of $1.1495, its strongest since August 26. The greenback continued to weaken against the yen on bets the Fed would not raise rates in 2015 due to the weakening global outlook and market volatility. It hit an eight-month low earlier at 118.07 yen before retracing to 118.55 yen, down 0.2 percent from late on Wednesday.
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