MW:Dollar rises after disappointing China GDP data
By Sarah Turner, MarketWatch
SYDNEY (MarketWatch) — The dollar index advanced on Friday, after a disappointing reading on Chinese growth turned investors away from riskier assets.
The ICE dollar index DXY +0.09% , which measures the greenback against a basket of six currencies, traded at 79.45, from 79.269 in late North American trading on Thursday.
In addition to the dollar’s gains Friday, Asian shares pared gains and U.S. stock futures turned lower, after official data showed that China’s economic growth slowed more-than-expected to 8.1% in the first quarter from the same period a year earlier.
The growth represents a sharp decline from the 8.9% increase in the country’s gross domestic product in the fourth quarter of 2011, and also falls short of the 8.5% expansion expected by economists surveyed by FactSet Research. Read more on China GDP.
Currencies that tend to benefit when traders are looking to take on more risk were generally weak. The euro EURUSD -0.1081% fell to $1.3173, from $1.3199 in late trading the previous day.
Sterling GBPUSD -0.0819% was down at $1.5944, from $1.5973.
The Australian dollar AUDUSD -0.4230% declined to $1.0396, from $1.0442 in late North American trading on Thursday.
The dollar USDJPY +0.1477% even gained against the safe-haven yen, buying 81.08 yen, compared to ¥80.77.
The move came after North Korea went ahead with its planned rocket launch Friday, although the rocket broke up soon after take off. Read more on North Korea.
