The dollar is pushing higher — here's what's happening in FX

Investing.com

Good morning!

The US dollar is slinking higher against all major currencies ahead of the latest Fed minutes, which will be out at 2 p.m. ET.

The dollar index is stronger by 0.2% at 94.73 as of 7:54 a.m. ET.

Meanwhile, the Australian dollar is weaker by 0.6% at 0.7282.

"The Australian dollar is retracing a sufficient part of its recent gains to suggest that the current phase of the US dollar's recovery is not over," wrote Marc Chandler, the global head of currency strategy at Brown Brothers Harriman, in a note to clients.

"Given that the Aussie topped out a week before the other major currencies, it is reasonable that this is where the US dollar begins recovering first," he continued. "AUD's recent resilience was noted, but that has evaporated today with a 0.6% drop in early European activity."

As for the rest of the world, here's the scoreboard:

• The Japanese yen is weaker by 0.2% at 109.32 per dollar after the latest data showed the Japanese economy grew by 0.4% in the first quarter, above economists' expectations of a 0.1% increase. 
• The euro is weaker by 0.3% at 1.1282 after data showed consumer prices in the eurozone slumped by 0.2% in April, in-line with forecasts. Prices in the eurozone haven't posted a monthly gain since December. Stripping out the volatile food and energy components, core CPI was also in line with expectations, up 0.7%.
• The Russian ruble is weaker for the first time this week, down 0.8% at 65.2708 per dollar, as oil prices dip lower. The petro-currency has been the best among emerging-markets over the past few months. Brent crude oil is weaker by 0.5% at $49.05 per barrel.
• The South African rand is weaker by 1.7% at 15.8121 after data showed lower-than-expected inflation and retail sales. Retail sales rose by 2.8% year-over-year, while inflation slowed from 6.3% to 6.2% (with food inflation hitting a four-year higher of 11% yoy). This "will probably lead the SARB to leave rates on hold at its meeting tomorrow," wrote Capital Economics John Ashbourne. "Output data suggest that South Africa narrowly avoided a fall in GDP in Q1."

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