According to data released by the Treasury Department, the US government’s budget deficit touched $8 billion in June, higher than the $6.35 billion deficit forecast. Federal spending in June, however, fell 12% YoY in June 2019 to $342 billion.

So far, in this fiscal year, the US government’s total budget deficit has climbed to $747 billion from $607 billion for the corresponding period in the previous year. Calendar-adjusted deficit also came in higher than in the previous year, at $55 billion in June 2019 vs. $30 billion in June 2018.

On Friday, the US dollar index DXY is trading above the key 97.00 level, but the outlook remains bearish over the increased Fed rate cut likelihood. At the time of writing, DXY is trading at 97.01.