Retail sales data helps dollar

The US dollar strengthened in relation to the euro and the yen on Tuesday on new retail sales data that showed sales excluding automobiles were up in April.

Without auto sales, retail sales in the US added 0.5 percent, more than had been expected.

Still, with auto sales included retail sales were down 0.2 percent in the month as purchases at auto dealerships and auto parts stores were down 2.8 percent.

Gas station sales were also down in April, falling 0.4 percent despite the increases in gas prices.

At around 11:15 a.m. in New York, the dollar had given back some of the gains versus the euro to trade at $1.5475 to the shared currency while it took ¥104.4750 to buy a dollar.

The greenback also gained on the Australian dollar and the Swiss franc, with the dollar trading at 94.12 cents US to the Aussie while the franc traded at SFr1.0514 to the dollar.

The yen was also lower versus several higher-yielding currencies as investors continued to return to risky carry trades.

In late morning trade in New York, the yen traded at ¥13.790 to the South African rand while it was at ¥9.9661 to the Mexican peso and at ¥62.829 to the Brazilian real.

The pound weakened on declines in property prices and higher inflation in April.

Consumer inflation was up an annualized 3 percent in April, a gain of 0.8 percent since the previous month, on food and fuel prices.

Meanwhile, house price declines were becoming more widespread according to a new survey from the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors which found that 82 percent of surveyors reported seeing house price declines in the three months ending in April, the most widespread declines in 30 years.

In March, 66 percent of those surveyed said they had seen prices decline.

It took $1.9461 to buy a pound in late morning trade in New York, while at the same time the pound traded at 79.52p to the euro.