2017.12.1814:55:00UTC+00Dollar Paring Early Losses, But Remains Down

The dollar got off to a weak start to the new trading week, but has since pared its early losses. Despite the recovery efforts, the buck remains lower against its major European rivals, but has fought back to nearly flat in comparison to the Japanese Yen.

Partially reflecting new policies aimed at providing regulatory relief to the business community, the National Association of Home Builders released a report on Monday showing an unexpected jump in U.S. homebuilder confidence in the month of December.

The report said the NAHB/Wells Fargo Housing Market Index jumped to 74 in December from a downwardly revised 69 in November. Economists had expected the index to come in unchanged compared to the 70 originally reported for the previous month.

The dollar dropped to a low of $1.1833 against the Euro Monday, but has since rebounded to around $1.1780.

Eurozone consumer price inflation rose slightly as estimated in November, final data from Eurostat showed Monday. Consumer prices advanced 1.5 percent year-on-year in November, following October's 1.4 percent increase. The rate came in line with the flash estimate published on November 30.

The buck fell to a low of $1.3418 against the pound sterling Monday, but has since bounced back to around $1.3385.

The squeeze on UK household finances softened slightly in October, data compiled each month by IHS Markit, using data collected by Ipsos MORI, showed Monday. The household finance index rose to 43.9 in December from 43.5 in November.

UK manufacturing order books were close to a 30-year high in the fourth quarter, monthly Industrial Trends survey from the Confederation of British Industry showed Monday.

About 28 percent of manufacturers reported that total order books were above normal, and 11 percent said they were below normal, giving a balance of +17 percent, which was the joint highest with last month and August 1988.

The greenback slipped to a low of Y112.304 against the Japanese Yen Monday, but has since recovered to around Y112.575, nearly unchanged on the day.

Japan posted a merchandise trade surplus of 113.357 billion yen in November, the Ministry of Finance said on Monday, down 22.6 percent on year. The headline figure beat forecasts for a deficit of 40.0 billion yen following the 285.4 billion yen surplus in October.

Exports were up 16.2 percent on year to 6.930 trillion yen, topping expectations for a gain of 14.7 percent following the 14.0 percent gain in the previous month.

Imports climbed an annual 17.2 percent to 6.807 trillion yen versus forecasts for an increase of 18.0 percent and down from 18.9 percent a month earlier.