Summary The dollar fell against major currencies Wednesday after a disappointing US retail sales report.
NEW YORK (AFP) - The dollar fell against major currencies Wednesday after a disappointing US retail sales report sparked concerns about the economy.
Sales of retail and food services dropped 0.9 percent in December from November, according to the US Commerce Department.
The December drop in sales surprised analysts and sent stocks of Wal-Mart Stores, Target and other leading retailers lower due to the importance of the holiday shopping season.
"It s been a terrible start to 2015 for US economic data, and that trend continued today," said a note from Christopher Vecchio, currency analyst at DailyFX.
After the retail sales figures were released at 1330 GMT, the US Dollar was slammed across the board, Vecchio said.
The dollar dropped to a session low of 116.08 yen from 117.90 Tuesday before recovering somewhat. The trend was similar for greenback trades against the British pound and other currencies.
But the dollar cut its losses after the Federal Reserve s Beige Book, released at 1900 GMT, described the US economy as broadly improving.
The US economy generated "modest" or "moderate" growth in late 2014, although lower oil prices were hitting energy-producing regions, according to the report.
The Fed report "did help the US dollar recover," said Kathy Lien, managing director at BK Asset Management.
The report s "optimistic tone reinforced the expectations that the Fed" would raise interest rates in 2015, she added.
