NEW YORK, Sept 6 (Reuters) – The dollar climbed to a six-month peak on Wednesday, reversing earlier losses, after U.S. data showed the services sector surprisingly picked up steam last month amid a rise in new orders and businesses paying higher prices, suggesting persistent inflation pressure.
The greenback recovered against most currencies after the data, with the euro and sterling hitting three-month lows and the yen touching session troughs. The U.S. currency, however, pulled back a bit in the afternoon as volume thinned.
The dollar index was last at 104.84, up 0.1%, after earlier hitting a fresh six-month high of 105.03.
The euro and sterling fell to three-month lows after the data and were last flat at $1.0726 and down 0.5% at $1.2505 , respectively.
Data showed the Institute for Supply Management (ISM)’s non-manufacturing PMI rose to 54.5 last month, the highest since February and up from 52.7 in July. Economists polled by Reuters had forecast the non-manufacturing PMI would decrease to 52.5.
“It’s clear the U.S. economy remains much stronger by comparison than most of the rest of the G10 and runs substantially less risk of entering a recession,” said Helen Given, FX trader at Monex USA in Washington.
“With the UK and the eurozone teetering on the brink of true contraction, investors…
