By Sarah Turner, MarketWatch
SYDNEY (MarketWatch) — The U.S. dollar gained versus major rivals on Friday, as investors fretting about the trajectory of global growth turned away from riskier assets.
The dollar index DXY +0.17% , which measures the greenback against a basket of six currencies, reached 74.313, from 74.216 in late North American trading Thursday.
The euro EURUSD -0.34% traded at $1.4321, from $1.4331 on Thursday, while the sterling GBPUSD -0.35% traded at $1.6487, from $1.6508.
“The nascent rally in risk is no more,“ said currency strategists at RBC Capital Markets.
Sentiment toward riskier assets took a pounding Thursday, with European banks dropping sharply and after factory activity in the Philadelphia region fell in August to the lowest level for more than two years. Read more on Philly Fed.
“Market sentiment was already dour even before the U.S. Philly Fed data. That release erased all hope of a relief rally. The numbers were out and out terrible,” noted the RBC strategists.
They added “market action seems less a case of the market wanting to buy U.S. dollars and more a case of motivated sellers of other stuff.”
The dollar USDJPY -0.04% bought 76.51 yen, from 76.56 yen in late trading on Thursday.
Sarah Turner is MarketWatch's bureau chief in Sydney.
