Dollar Set for Biggest Weekly Gain Since September as Index Hits 103.17
Key Facts
The yen held at 159.90 against the dollar on Friday, November 13, after falling 0.9% over the week, while the dollar index stood at 103.17 and was on track for a 0.9% weekly gain, its biggest since September, according to a Reuters report carried by MarketScreener. The U.S. currency was also little changed against the franc at 0.836, near a one-month high. In Japan, the dollar approached the 160-yen level that has raised concerns about possible intervention by authorities. The currency moves coincided with the release of U.S. data showing that the monthly increase in producer prices slowed in October from September, while the annual rise remained elevated. The available data do not establish that the producer-price reading caused the session's currency moves.
The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics said its producer price index for final demand rose 0.3% in October, after increasing 1.4% in September. The monthly figure measures changes in the prices producers receive, and its slowdown came alongside a continued rise in the index year over year. The index increased 6.5% in the 12 months through October, its largest gain since a 7.4% increase in November 2022. An Associated Press report said the annual reading rose from 6.3% in September to 6.5% in October, confirming it was the largest since November 2022. The Bureau of Labor Statistics' public release did not include a comparison with market forecasts, so it does not provide a basis for describing the monthly increase as above or below expectations.
October's monthly increase was spread across goods and services: prices for final-demand goods rose 0.5%, while service prices increased 0.2%, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. The index for final demand less food, energy and trade services rose 0.5% during the month, the same increase recorded in September. In the 12 months through October, this measure rose 4.9%. The index covers a basket that excludes food, energy and trade services, so its reading describes this specific range of prices and does not necessarily represent every possible definition of core inflation. The figures show that the slowdown in the headline index's monthly increase was not accompanied by a slowdown in this excluded-items measure, which maintained September's pace.
In the details on services, the Bureau of Labor Statistics attributed three-quarters of the monthly increase in final-demand services prices to a 2.0% rise in transportation and warehousing prices in October. Truck freight transportation prices also rose 3.9% during the month, among the components putting pressure on service prices. This breakdown puts the contribution from transportation and warehousing in the context of the 0.2% overall increase in services, without implying that all service components moved at the same pace. In currency markets, traders were pricing in a 12.1% probability of a 50-basis-point U.S. rate increase in December, compared with 0% the previous week, according to a Reuters report. That percentage describes a change in the pricing cited in the report and does not, on its own, provide a confirmed explanation for the dollar's move or a direct link to the producer data.
The yen remained below 160 per dollar, while Japanese Finance Minister Satsuki Katayama said on Friday that the government would respond to currency-market volatility "appropriately." The level is significant amid intervention concerns cited in the Reuters report as the U.S. currency approached it, while the yen was down 0.9% over the week. In the United States, the Associated Press cited economists' estimates that the core personal consumption expenditures price index would rise 0.3% monthly in October and increase 3.2% annually, versus 3.1% in September. These are estimates reported by the outlet, not a final reading issued by a statistical agency. The next producer price index release, covering November, is scheduled for publication by the Bureau of Labor Statistics on December 15, 2026, at 8:30 a.m. Eastern time.