IForex Daily : April 13, 2014

 | Apr 13, 2015 06:55AM ET

Demand for the dollar was underpinned by expectations for higher interest rates, as investors regained confidence that the U.S. economy would continue to recover after recent economic reports pointed to a slowdown at the start of the year. The greenback received a boost earlier in the week after comments by the presidents of the New York and Richmond Federal Reserve banks made the case for the Fed to begin policy tightening as early as the summer. Some investors had pushed back the timing of a rate hike until late 2015 after a surprisingly weak U.S. employment report for March.

In the week ahead, Wednesday's monetary policy announcement and press conference by the ECB will be in focus. U.S. data on retail sales, inflation and consumer sentiment will be closely watched for further indications on the strength of the recovery.

EUR/USD

The euro was down against the dollar for the fifth straight session on Friday, falling to one-month lows as the contrasting monetary policy stance of the European Central Bank with the Federal Reserve acted as a drag.

For the week the pair lost 3.57%, the worst weekly performance since September 2011.

The single currency has already weakened broadly this year after the ECB unveiled a trillion-euro quantitative easing program in January.

This week investors' focus will be on Tuesday U.S. retail sales and producer prices; Wednesday ECB interest rate decision, followed by a press conference with President Mario Draghi, while in U.S. reports on industrial production and manufacturing activity in New York state will be carefully monitored; Thursday US data on jobless claims, building permits, housing starts and manufacturing activity in the Philadelphia region; to conclude with Friday consumer price index from both Eurozone and US.