US Dollar Index Largely Muted On Soft US Retail Sales

The US dollar is staying largely muted on Wednesday morning in Asia following softer than expected US retail sales data that suggests dovish bets on Fed. The US Census Bureau reported May's Retail Sales data growth at a slower pace of 0.1% against the projected 0.2%. Meanwhile, the Federal Reserve released a separate report showing industrial production increased by much more than expected in the month of May. The Fed said industrial production jumped by 0.9 percent in May after coming in unchanged in April. The US dollar index remained on the defensive below 105 mark and in line with US Treasury bond yields that are quoting lower at 4.22%. Currently, the dollar index futures are quoting at 104.90, marginally unchanged on the day. Among the basket currencies, EURUSD and GBPUSD are trading at $1.0783 and $1.2715 respectively. Investors are now focused on weekly jobless claims due Thursday and flash purchasing managers' indexes on Friday for further insights.