Dollar Is Seen Weakening a Bit Amid Reports
NEW YORK -- The dollar looks poised to weaken somewhat this week, as the market turns its attention to the last big batch of data ahead of the Federal Reserve's meeting at the end of the month.</br></br>However, political events elsewhere could help the dollar, as Japan readies for its June 25 Lower House election and Europe grapples with economic reform. Analysts expect the dollar to trade in a range of 103 yen and 108 yen and near 96 cents against the euro.</br></br>Many European markets are closed today for a holiday.</br></br>Analysts expect more data indicating that the U.S. economy is slowing, which would feed speculation that the Fed will pass on raising interest rates at its June 27-28 meeting. "The key data are retail sales and consumer prices," said John Rothfield, senior currency strategist at Bank of America in San Francisco. "We expect those to be benign, and that will probably trigger a rally in some of the other currencies."</br></br>The producer-price index for May, announced Friday, was unchanged, suggesting that consumer prices also will be benign and leaving an uncertain outlook for U.S. interest rates.