US DOLLAR RECOVERS AS INVESTORS BRACE FOR US RETAIL SALES, PPI DATA

• The US Dollar trades in the green after weaker Yuan fixing, shifting ECB rate cut bets.. 
• Traders brace for big US data release at 12:30 GMT. 
• The US Dollar Index traders near 103.00, aiming to snap above this key level. 

The US Dollar (USD) trades in the green on Thursday ahead of the release of US Retail Sales and Producer Price Index (PPI) numbers, and the weekly Jobless Claims. Two drivers seem to be supporting the USD: Firstly, the People’s Bank of China (PBoC) set a substantial weaker Yuan fixing against the Greenback for the first time in months. Secondly, European Central Bank (ECB) members are nearly rolling over the floor fighting over when is the right time for the initial rate cut from the ECB. Views that the ECB could precede the Fed in cutting rates weigh on the Euro, helping the DXY USD Index advance.

On the economic data front, a wave of data is set to be released at 12:30 GMT. The main component is the monthly Retail Sales print for February, which are expected to jump by 0.8% after contracting by a similar magnitude in January. Next to that, the Headline and Core Producer Price Index (PPI) numbers for February are expected to show the recent disinflationary path persisted.