US Dollar climbs to highs near 95.80 on upbeat ISM

The greenback, tracked by the US Dollar Index, has started the week on a firm note, now extending the daily upside to the vicinity of 95.80, or session peaks.

US Dollar boosted by data

The index has reverted Friday’s losses after US ISM Manufacturing has returned to the expansionary territory during last month, climbing to 51.5 vs. 50.3 initially estimated and up from August’s 49.4.

Adding to US upbeat tone, Markit’s Manufacturing PMI has also followed suit, advancing to 51.5 during the same period vs. 51.4 recorded during the previous month.

In the meantime, USD is looking to extend the up move after last week’s flat performance, although it remains well underpinned by the support line off 2016 low traded in early May, today just below the 95.00 handle.

Regarding positioning, USD speculative shorts have increased to the highest level in the last six weeks, prompting net longs to drop to the lowest level since June 21 during the week ended on September 27 and according to the latest CFTC report.

US Dollar relevant levels

The index is gaining 0.30% at 95.75 and a break above 95.95 (200-day sma) would aim for 96.31 (spike post-BoJ Sep.21) and finally 96.50 (high Aug.5). On the flip side, the immediate support lines up at 94.97 (support line off 2016 low) ahead of 94.44 (low Sep.8) and finally 94.05 (low Aug.18).