U.S. Dollar Moves Higher Amid Ongoing Interest Rates Concerns

The value of the U.S. dollar has moved to the upside on Wednesday, with the greenback benefiting from its appeal as a safe haven amid ongoing concerns about the outlook for interest rates.

After reaching its best levels in a month earlier in the day, the U.S. dollar index has given back some ground but remains up 0.61 points or 0.6 percent at 103.84. The U.S. dollar is trading at 134.13 yen compared to the 133.16 yen it fetched at the close of New York trading on Tuesday. Against the euro, the dollar is trading at $1.0690 compared to yesterday's $1.0738.

The buck has benefited from ongoing concerns about the outlook for interest rates following yesterday's inflation data and today's strong retail sales data.

Early in the day, the Commerce Department released a report showing a substantial increase in U.S. retail sales in the month of January.

The report said retail sales spiked by 3.0 percent in January after tumbling by 1.1 percent in December. Economists had expected retail sales to jump by 1.8 percent.

Excluding a surge in sales by motor vehicle and parts dealers, retail sales still shot up by 2.3 percent in January after falling by a revised 0.9 percent in December.

Ex-auto sales were expected to increase by 0.8 percent compared to the 1.1 percent slump originally reported for the previous month.

The sharp increase in retail sales has led to concerns the Federal Reserve will be encouraged to continue aggressively raising interest rates in an effort to combat inflation.