Mubasher: The US dollar jumped to its highest level in more than 13 months against a range of currencies after investors ramped up their dollar safe-haven holdings.

The greenback was also buttressed by upbeat data on domestic retail sales, manufacturing production and labour productivity, all of which supported a steady big picture of the country’s economic growth.

The euro (EUR) declined against the greenback to $1.13225, hitting its weakest level in 13 months, as fears mounted over European bank system’s exposure to Turkey.

The Turkish lira (TRY) plunged to a record low earlier this week on the back of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan’s economic policies and diplomatic and trade feuds with the US.

However, the Turkish currency rose for the second day stoked by the central bank liquidity measures, but other currencies in emerging markets plunged once again, with the South African rand (ZAR) falling to 13-month low and the Indian rupee (INR) hovering near all-time trough.

The lira recovered 12% against the US dollar to TRY 6.06, but still remained 40% lower this year.

The UK sterling pound (GBP) sagged 0.4% versus the dollar to $1.2673, the steepest level seen in 13 months and a half, despite positive inflation data in July.

Moreover, the Chinese yuan (CNY) fell 0.8% against the US dollar to CNY 6.9467, hitting its weakest level since January 2017. The Chinese currency weak performance was driven by negative economic figures, which triggered speculation over an intervention from the country’s central bank (PBOC) or more fiscal stimulus to prevent the domestic currency from hitting beyond the 7-yuan benchmark.

By 3:48 pm GMT, the US dollar index, which traces the greenback versus six major currencies, rose 0.09% to 96.8180.