LONDON (ShareCast) - The dollar and the yen turned lower on Friday, with renewed risk appetite taking higher yielding currencies such as the euro and Australian dollar higher.
Demand for the dollar's safe haven qualities faded amid resurgent
hopes that an economic recovery is in place.
The dollar index, which measures the US currency against six others, slipped to 80.246 from 80.671 in late US Thursday trading.
Traders took hope from Thursday's US data, which showed the number of people claiming unemployment benefits dropped for the first time since January.
Another report, the Philadelphia Fed index on regional manufacturing, was up to -2.2 in June from -22.6 last month. Experts predicted a read of -17.
Economic news was thin on the ground Friday but all in all risk appetite was fuelled by confidence about the global economy pulling out of recession.
Analysts said however that risk was limited ahead of the Federal Reserve's two-day monetary policy meeting, starting Tuesday and on the view that the dollar and yen's run up in recent weeks has been overdone.
The euro gained ground on Friday as European markets ticked higher. The euro zone currency was up at $1.3952 from $1.3889 Thursday.
Sterling slipped against the dollar and the euro after weak retail sales figures poured cold water on recent hopes of a quick UK economic recovery.
Send Article by Email
Send Article by IM
Blog This with Y! 360
Printable View
