A picture illustration of U.S. dollar, Swiss Franc, British pound and Euro bank notes, taken in Warsaw January 26, 2011. REUTERS/Kacper Pempel
TOKYO, Nov 17 (Reuters) – The U.S. dollar hit a fresh high since March 2017 against the yen and traded close to a 16-month peak versus a basket of major peers on Wednesday, as a run of strong economic data boosted bets for earlier Federal Reserve interest-rate hikes.
Australia’s dollar weakened after wage data failed to strengthen the case for tighter monetary policy.
The greenback rose as high as 114.975 yen before last changing hands at 114.755.
The dollar index – which measures the currency against six rivals including the yen – traded at 95.871, not far from the overnight high of 95.978, a level not seen since July of last year.
U.S. retail sales rose more than expected in October, a report showed Tuesday, building on momentum from last week when data showed consumer prices surging at the…
