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© Reuters. The euro falls to its lowest level since the beginning of January against the dollar
Frankfurt (Germany), Feb 24 (.).- The euro was exchanged this Friday below 1.0550 dollars, the lowest value since the beginning of January, after the publication of higher-than-expected inflation figures in the US, that boosted the greenback because more interest rate rises are expected.
The euro was trading around 4:00 p.m. GMT at $1.0541, compared with $1.0592 in the final hours of European currency market trading the previous day.
The European Central Bank (ECB) set the reference exchange rate for the euro at $1.0570.
The US personal consumption expenditure price index rose 5.4% year-on-year in the US in January (5.3% in December) and the underlying data, which excludes more volatile items such as food and energy, rose 4. 7%.
This is the price indicator in which the Federal Reserve (Fed) looks the most to decide its monetary policy.
Federal Reserve Bank of Cleveland President Loretta Mester said she has not yet decided whether the Fed should raise interest rates by 50 basis points at its next meeting in March.
The markets discount that the Fed will raise its interest rates two more times by 25 basis points each, in March and May.
Sales of new homes rose in the US by 7.2% in January, the highest in ten months.
Some economic figures from the euro area weakened the value of the single currency.
The German economy contracted by 0.4% in the fourth quarter of 2022, double what had been reported so far.
The single currency was exchanged in a fluctuation band between 1.0537 and 1.0614 dollars.
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