The greenback managed to offset much of the losses they reported after news of North Korea’s missile test. Still, the US currency is close to the 30-month low reached at the beginning of the week. The dollar index, showing the change of US money against the basket of six major currencies, fell 0.21 percent to 91.98 points.
Compared to the Japanese yen, greenbacks fell more than one percent, reaching JPY 109.89 per dollar. This is the slightest performance of the USD / JPY pair for the past 12 days. At the same time, the euro broke the psychological limit of 1.2000. During the trading session, the single currency reached levels above 1.2050, but at the end of the day the euro retreated from the previously reached high and dipped at levels around 1.1980 dollars per euro.
Consumer confidence data in the US managed to limit losses on the dollar after the indicator rose to 122.9 points in August from 121.1 a month earlier. This is the highest level of consumer confidence in the country over the past 5 months.
Gold rose to nearly $1,320 an ounce, closing over the key resistance of 1300 dollars. The upward movement for the noble metal continued after North Korea conducted another missile test. The missile, which was fired from an area near Pyongyang, flew over the northern part of Japan before it collapsed in several parts and fell into the Pacific Ocean.
According to Japanese and South Korean representatives, the distance traveled is about 1,000 kilometers. Gold used among investors with their asylum status has taken advantage of the news and has appreciated significantly. A rising impulse was also present with other precious metals. Silver futures rose by a minimum of 0.02 percent to $17.44 an ounce. Platinum, however, jumped 1.35% to $1002.
Oil fell for a second straight day against investors’ concerns about the effects of Hurricane Harvey. Since the beginning of the storm, about 16% of the country’s production capacity has been closed. The closure of much of the refineries in Texas, which is the US oil heart, led to a decline in production of about 3 million barrels.
